Macular choroidal thickness after vitreoretinal surgery: Long-term effect of pars plana vitrectomy with and without encircling scleral buckling surgery

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the macular choroidal thickness (CT) of eyes subjected to pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) whether or not combined with encircling scleral buckling (ESB) surgery for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair at 6 months or more after surgery. Methods This observational study included: 15 eyes (15 patients) submitted to combined ESB + PPV; 15 eyes submitted to PPV and their respective 30 normal fellow eyes (FE). Two 6 mm lineal perpendicular optical coherence tomography B-scans centered on the fovea with enhanced depth imaging were performed on each eye. CT was measured at several macular locations: subfoveal (SF-CT) and at a radius of 1, 2, and 3 mm from the fovea. CTs of the eyes in the CE + PPV group were compared to CT in the PPV group and the CTs of all operated eyes were compared to the CTs of their FE. Results SF-CT of the eyes in the ESB + PPV group was significantly increased compared to their FE ( p  = 0.001). CT at a radius of 1, 2, and 3 mm from the fovea of the ESB + PPV group were significantly increased ( p  = 0.001, p  = 0.005, and p  = 0.001, respectively). The SF-CT of the PPV group was similar to their FE ( p  = 0.691). The SF-CT of the ESB + PPV group was significantly increased compared to SF-CT of the PPV group ( p  = 0.019). Conclusions The CT of the eyes subjected to combined ESB and PPV was significantly increased at 6 months or more after surgery compared to the CT of their FE and to the CT of the eyes subjected to PPV alone, which could be explained by a venous engorgement caused by the ESB.