Different tamponade effects of intraocular silicone oil and sterilized air after single pars plana vitrectomy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

Abstract Purpose: To investigate different fundus vasculature and structure changes after single pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) following silicone oil (SO) or sterilized air in macular-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) patients. Method: 39 eyes (39 patients) with macular-off RRD underwent standard three-port 23-gauge PPV and intraocular SO or gas tamponade. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and angiography were used to evaluate fundus structure and vasculature including retinal layers thicknesses and vessel density (VD) changes throughout observation for 12 weeks. Retinal layers were segmented into: NFL, GCL+IPL, INL, OPL, ONL+IS, OS+RPE and BRM. Fundus vasculature was segmented into superficial and deep capillary plexus (SCP, DCP), and choriocapillaris plexus (CCP). Result: For fundus vasculature, SO tamponade led to significant decrease in both SCPVD and DCPVD, while only SCPVD was found significantly decreased in gas tamponade eyes. For specific retinal layer, SO led to significant decrease in NFL and INL thicknesses. OPL, ONL+IS and OS+RPE thicknesses had significant increase in both SO tamponade and gas tamponade eyes. Conclusion: Different intraocular tamponades could have various impacts on retinal vasculature and structure. Compared to sterilized air, silicone oil tamponade could have relatively more negative effects on retinal vasculature and specific retinal layer thickness change.