Analysis of results in the treatment of peripheral retinoschisis in sex-linked congenital retinoschisis

Abstract

Curative and prophylactic treatment of peripheral retinoschisis has been studied over a period of 20 years in 60 cases of sex-linked congenital retinoschisis. Peripheral retinoschisis occurred in 36 of 120 eyes. In all, 12 severely affected eyes in children under 10 years of age underwent surgery (8 improvements and 4 aggravations) and 21 cases were photocoagulated (18 stabilisations and 3 aggravations that were subsequently treated by surgery); 6 cases were not treated. Aggravations after surgery or photocoagulation were consistently observed in the early post-operative follow-up period. An epidemiological study of these 60 patients demonstrated that bullous-phase peripheral retinoschisis occurs only in patients under 10 years of age, with a tendency to regress with age (no cases were reported in patients over 50 years of age). This study closely corroborates the findings of authors who think that this type of retinoschisis tends to improve spontaneously and that indications for prophylactic or curative treatment should be very carefully considered.