Program list

SYMPOSIUM: WEAPONS CHOICES
SECTION: Tamponade
Moderators: Klaus Lucke, Athanasios Nikolakopoulos
Monday, September 15th, 2003 ; 8:30 - 10:30

USE OF PERFLUOROCTYLBROMIDE FOR SHORT TERM POSTOPERATIVE VITREORETINAL TAMPONADE
Michael Shiskhin MD*, Prof., Ernest Boiko, MD, Prof., Alexey Kulikov, MD, Sergey Koskin, MD Department of Ophthalmology, Military Medical Academy, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Purpose: To study the efficiency of use of perfluoroctylbromide for short-term postoperative vitreoretinal tamponade.
Methods: Pars plana vitrectomy was performed on 17 eyes of 17 patients with severe proliferative vitreoretinopathy and total retinal detachment. The preoperative visual acuities of all patients were light perception (incerta). Perfluoroctylbromide was used for intraoperative and short-term postoperative (10-14 days) vitreoretinal tamponade.
Results: We investigated the safety of the perfluoroctylbromide in previous experiments. Then we used it as a temporary intraoperative vitreous substitute and manipulation agent. In these 17 cases we used the perfluoroctylbromide for short-term postoperative vitreoretinal tamponade, because all other methods of treatment did not allow us to reappose the retina. We found that perfluoroctylbromide bubble started to disperse into smaller droplets at 3th day in 4 cases (24%), and at 10th day in 13 cases (76%). In 5 cases (29%) we have noted the occurrence of membranes on a surface of perfluoroctylbromide bubble, which were eliminated pharmacologically. We did not check any other negative symptoms. The term of postoperative observation was 3-15 months. We got the attachement of retina in 12 cases (71%). The postoperative visual acuities were more than 0,01 in 4 cases (24%).
Conclusion: The findings indicate that the perfluoroctylbromide is effective and safe vitreous substitute for a short-term postoperative vitreoretinal tamponade. We did not check any negative symptoms except known ones: emulsification (76%) and membrane formation (29%).
Take-home message: Use of perfluoroctylbromide for short-term postoperative vitreoretinal tamponade in the patients with severe proliferative vitreoretinopathy allowed to reappose the retina in 71% of cases and to reach postoperative visual acuities more than 0,01 in 24% of cases.