Abstract

Visual recovery following retinal reattachment surgery may be limited by a number of factors. Detachment of the macula is the most important of these, often yielding poor visual acuity after an anatomic success. Gross morphologic changes giving a poor visual result include macular pucker, cellophane maculopathy, cystoid macular edema, and subretinal fibrosis. Some cases with a normal appearing macula by ophthalmoscopy have reduced visual acuity, and these have been attributed to misalignment of photoreceptors, faulty regeneration of photoreceptors, or RPE atrophy (4,5,6). Histologic animal studies have shown degeneration of photoreceptor outer segments following retinal detachment with gradual regeneration following reattachment (2,8). In this report we use fundus reflectometry in vivo to compare the spatial distribution of the visual pigments, contained in photoreceptor outer segments, in 3 patients following retinal reattachment surgery with 9 controls.

© 1990 Optical Society of America