POROUS POLYETHYLENE ORBITAL IMPLANT IN PATIENTS WITH RETINOBLASTOMA

Objective: The purpose of the study was to assess integration of porou s polyethylene allografts in 37 anophthalmic sockets of retinoblastoma enucleations, Design: A clinical review. Participants: Thirty-four pa tients (19 female, 15 male) whose age when diagnosed with retinoblasto ma ranged from 1 to 72 months participated. Sixteen patients had unila teral retinoblastoma and 18 had bilateral retinoblastoma. Intervention : Enucleation (3 bilateral, 31 unilateral) with implantation of a poro us polyethylene (PP) sphere (16-20 mm in diameter) was performed. Of t he 37 spheres, 34 were primary implants and 3 were secondary implants. In the eight patients with postimplantation exposure, the PP implant had to be removed. Main Outcome Measures: Data on eight sockets with e xposed PP implant were measured. Results: There were no implant extrus ions, but conjunctival dehiscence-exposure occurred in eight patients (21.6%), In 3 of 37 sockets, the volume replacement was not good, and in 5 cases, fornices were too shallow to accommodate a well-fitting pr osthesis. In all but one socket, the overall cosmesis was graded subje ctively from acceptable (grade 2) to excellent (grade 3), Conclusions: Although the PP implant is a useful and a less-expensive alternative to hydroxyapatite in the porous matrix implant category, if conjunctiv al exposure takes place, the implant presents a serious management pro blem because of its nonresponsiveness to medical and surgical treatmen ts.