THE PERSISTENCE OF BUCKLE HEIGHT IN RELATION TO ORIENTATION OF BUCKLEFIXATION - AN ULTRASONOGRAPHIC STUDY

Forty phakic myopic eyes of 40 patients with rhegmatogenous retinal de tachment were included in a prospective clinical trial designed to eva luate the changes in buckle height 'after retinal detachment surgery. The age of the patients ranged between 50 and 75 years.The eyes were d ivided into two groups (A and B) according to the orientation of spong e fixation. In group A (20 eyes) the sponge fixation was circumferenti al, while in group B (20 eyes) radial. A-scan ultrasonography was used for the measurements of buckle height 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months post operatively. At all times of measurement, the buckle height presented a statistically significant difference between the patients of group A and B. More specifically, radial fixation produced a significantly lo wer scleral indentation compared with that produced by circumferential fixation. After a lapse of 18 months, the buckle height in group B re tained 41% of its original value compared with that of group A which r etained 66%.