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Case Reports
. 2020 Mar 19;11(1):137-142.
doi: 10.1159/000506623. eCollection 2020 Jan-Apr.

Retinal "Caratopathy": Diamond Dust Residuals after Surgeries

Alexander Hüther  1   2 , Timothy T You  1 , Sanford Chen  1 , Rajiv R Rathod  1 , Esther L Kim  1 , John M Maggiano  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Retinal "Caratopathy": Diamond Dust Residuals after Surgeries

Alexander Hüther et al. Case Rep Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Diamond dust particles were identified within patients' eyes both during vitrectomy procedures using diamond-dusted membrane scrapers and in postoperative clinical examinations. The particles had no impact on the patients' vision and caused no apparent sequelae. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed the average particle size to be 23.4 μm and an unequal surface area for particle adhesion onto the soft tip. It was determined that diamond dust particles can dislodge from the silicone tip of the Tano diamond-dusted membrane scrapers during the insertion into valve trocars throughout vitrectomy operations and deposit on the retinal surface or within macular holes. Ophthalmologists should be aware of residual diamond particles during procedures and consider diamond dust retinopathy in the differential diagnosis of crystalline retinopathies. Understanding the appearance of residual particles on the retina allows for future studies revealing the long-term impact on patient's visual performance.

Keywords: Crystalline retinopathy; Diamond dust retinopathy; Diamond-dusted scraper; Epiretinal membrane; Macular hole.

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Conflict of interest statement

There is no proprietary interest in this work for any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Fundus image of the left eye. White diamond deposits are marked. b Red-free photograph. Carbon particles are highly visible and distributed in the nasal macula.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
SD-OCT images of the macular region. a Macular hole before surgical treatment was performed. b Macular hole which remained open after surgical treatment with a refractive particle lying on the retinal pigment epithelium layer.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Scanning electron microscope image of Tano diamond-dusted membrane scraper (Synergetics Inc.) at ×250 magnification. Notice how particles are partially stacked upon each other, decreasing the area of adhesion possible to the tip.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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