Pars plans vitrectomy for cystoid macular edema secondary to sarcoid uveitis

Objective: To examine the results of pars plana vitrectomy for cystoid macu lar edema secondary to sarcoid uveitis resistant to medical treatment. Design: Retrospective, interventional, noncomparative case series. Subjects: Fourteen consecutive subjects (18 eyes) with cystoid macular edem a associated with sarcoid uveitis resistant to medical treatment. Intervention: All eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy, Nine eyes also unde rwent peeling of the epiretinal membrane or removal of the posterior vitreo us cortex. Main Outcome Measures: Status of macular edema, visual acuity, and complica tions. Results: Ten eyes (56%) improved 2 or more lines of Snellen visual acuity w ithin 12 months. Six eyes (33%) remained unchanged, within a line of preope rative Snellen visual acuity, and two eyes (11%) worsened by 2 or more line s of Snellen visual acuity, Slit-lamp biomicroscopy showed that cystoid mac ular edema had resolved in 14 eyes (78%) within 9 months postoperatively, O ne eye (6%) had minimal edema, whereas three eyes (17%) remained unchanged biomicroscopically at the final visit. Postoperative complications included cataract formation, glaucoma, optic nerve atrophy, epiretinal membrane for mation, and tractional retinal detachment. No severe postoperative inflamma tion was noted, Conclusions: Pars plana vitrectomy seems to have a beneficial effect on cys toid macular edema caused by sarcoidosis resistant to medical treatment. Op hthalmology 2001;108:1140-1144 (C) 2001 by the American Academy of Ophthalm ology.