Subfoveal Choroidal Thickness After Successful Retinal Detachment Repair with Persistent Subretinal Fluid at the Macula

Ahmad M Mansour,1,2,* Maurizio Battaglia Parodi,3,* Sami H Uwaydat,4 Luiz H Lima,5 Suzanne Charbaji,6 Antonio Marcelo Casella,7 Lorenzo López-Guajardo,8 Silvana Belotto,9 Lihteh Wu,10 Stephen G Schwartz,11 William E Smiddy,11 Mahdi M Hassoun,1 Eduardo Pérez-Salvador García,12 Hana A Mansour,13 Ayman G Elnahry,14,15 Rola N Hamam1 1Department of Ophthalmology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Rafic Hariri University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon; 3Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute Milan, Milan, Italy; 4Jones Eye Institute, University of Arkansas Medical School, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA; 5Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 6Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; 7Department of Ophthalmology, Londrina State University, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil; 8Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain; 9Institut Català de Retina, Barcelona, Spain; 10Asociados de Macula Vitreo y Retina de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica; 11Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA; 12Servicio de Oftalmología del Hospital Universitario de Burgos, Burgos, Spain; 13Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; 14Department of Ophthalmology, Kasr Al-Ainy Hospitals, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; 15BayCare Clinic Eye Specialists, Greenbay, Wisconsin, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ahmad M Mansour, Department of Ophthalmology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, Tel +9613377633, Email [email protected]: To explore the relationship between subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) and persistent subretinal fluid (pSRF) at the macula after successful rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery.Methods: This is a retrospective multicenter comparative study of Caucasian subjects with successful RRD repair. SFCT was measured in 2 groups: Group 1 with persistent subretinal fluid (pSRF) 1 month after repair, and Group 2 with absence of pSRF. SFCT was measured by a masked observer based on ImageJ. Multiple regression analyses were implemented to control for age, refraction, and gender.Results: Surgery type was as follows: Group 1 (24 scleral buckle SB, 23 pars plana vitrectomy PPV, 9 SB+PPV, and 5 pneumoretinopexy), and Group 2 (68 PPV). Adjusted mean 1-month SFCT was thicker in Group 1 than in Group 2 by 41.0 μm (p = 0.049). Within Group 1, PPV subgroup tended to have thinner SFCT than the other subgroups by: SB (117.4 μm), SB-PPV (9.3) and pneumoretinopexy (1.2 μm) (all p> 0.05). SFCT at 1-month was not different between pSRF (237.5± 77.2 μm) and no pSRF (213.7± 72.1 μm) in PPV groups (p=0.2).Conclusion: SFCT post PPV appeared similar in eyes with or without pSRF. In eyes with pSRF, SFCT tended to be thicker following SB compared to PPV.Plain Lanugage Summary: What was known before:Persistent subretinal fluid one month after successful retinal detachment surgery is associated with a thicker choroid and pachychoroid.What this study adds:Persisting subretinal fluid one month after successful retinal detachment repair by pars plana vitrectomy is not influenced by the subfoveal choroidal thickness.Scleral buckle leads to increased subfoveal choroidal thickness due to compression of the choroid.Keywords: choroid, choroidal thickness, optical coherence tomography, pars plana vitrectomy, persistent subretinal fluid, pneumoretinopexy, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, scleral buckling, subfoveal choroidal thickness