SILICONE OIL FOR RECURRENT VITREOUS HEMORRHAGE IN PREVIOUSLY VITRECTOMIZED DIABETIC EYES

Aims: To investigate the clinical course of vitrectomized patients wit h recurrent diabetic vitreous hemorrhage who were treated by revitrect omy with silicone oil (SO) as a hemostyptic tamponade. Patients and Me thods: Fifteen patients with recurrent vitreous hemorrhage due to prol iferative diabetic vitreoretinopathy were included in this retrospecti ve study. All eyes had had at least one vitrectomy prior to use of SO and the retina was completely attached at any time before revitrectomy with SO instillation. Thirteen patients had a blind fellow eye. There were 6 males and 9 females (mean age 62.7 years, range 45-76 years). The mean duration of SO tamponade was 25.8 months (range 9-35 months). The average follow-up period was 30.4 months (range 20-48 months). Re sults: Ten out of 15 eyes (66.6%) improved postoperatively, 9 eyes had a visual acuity of 10.02 at the latest follow-up visit. Secondary gla ucoma occurred in 4 eyes, leading to phthisis in 1 eye. All 5 phakic e yes developed a cataract. Conclusion: A revitrectomy combined with a l ong-term hemostyptic SO tamponade offers a chance for restoration of u seful visual acuity in diabetic eyes with persistent vitreous hemorrha ge that fails to subside after cryocoagulation and vitrectomy without tamponade. Because of possible visual loss from secondary glaucoma rel ated to intraocular SO, this treatment should mainly be considered in patients with a blind fellow eye.