Sympathetic Ophthalmia after Vitreoretinal Surgeries: Incidence, Clinical Presentations and Outcomes of a Rare Disease

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate clinical presentation, course and outcomes in patients without a history of penetrating ocular trauma who developed Sympathetic Ophthalmia (SO) following vitreoretinal surgeries Methods: Retrospective review of clinical records of all patients diagnosed and treated as S.O was done . All cases without a previous history of trauma were included and were analyzed with respect to clinical presentations, anatomic and visual outcomes. Results: 175 cases of sympathetic ophthalmia were diagnosed and treated till June 2017. 16 of these cases had undergone a pars plana vitrecomy (PPV) in the past and had no history of prior ocular trauma. SO after vitreoetinal surgeries accounted for 9.14 percent of all cases of SO .In the same duration, till 2017,a total 41365 PPV were done. Thus 0.038 percent of PPV cases developed a SO . 10 patients were males and 6 were females. The median age at presentation was 45.7 years. The time interval from surgery to diagnosis of sympathetic ophthalmia ranged from 22 days to 4 years after undergoing a surgery. The mean visual acuity in the sympathizing eye was 1.26 logMAR (snellens equivalent of 20/320) which improved to 0.62 logMAR(snellens equivalent of 20/80) after treatment. The most common anterior segment finding was non granulomatous anterior uveitis, seen in 8 cases (50%) while neurosensory detachments were the most common posterior segment presentation (10 cases, 62.5%).12 patients had undergone more than 1 surgery (mean number of surgeries was 1.88). 10 patients had undergone a sutureless PPV (6 cases of 23 gauge and 4 cases of 25 gauge vitrectomy) while 4 patients had undergone a 20 gauge vitrectomy where all sclerotomies were sutured after surgery All patients were treated with systemic steroids and immunosuppresants and 15 out of 16 patients showed significant improvement in the final visual acuity in the sympathizing eye Conclusions: Sympathetic ophthalmia after vitreoretinal surgeries is a rare but potentially sight threatening disease occurring in 0.038 percent of all cases of Pars Plana Vitrectomy. Presence of inflammation in the fellow eye after a vitreoretinal surgery in the other eye should alert the surgeon to possibility of sympathetic ophthalmia.

Keywords: Pars plana vitrectomy; panuveitis; sympathetic ophthalmia.