Macular Retinal Detachment

[Whinney]

Hi,
I had Scleral Buckle Surgery on my right eye on February 23, 2009.  I was told that the Macular was detached which from what I have learned is the worst kind.  Its now been 3 weeks since my surgery, and I can't see much more than shapes out of my right eye.  At first I noticed daily improvement in my vision, but it seems to have plateaud in the last week or so.  What is realistic as far as my sight coming back?  I know this will vary from person to person.

Thanks!

[Whinney]

Hi,

Thanks for your post.  I saw the Surgeon again this past Friday, and he told me I will likely be looking at 20/200 in this eye.  My other eye is good though, so I'm sure I will eventually get used to this.  Right now still a lot of headaches and throbbing pain, as well as nautious feeling at times.

[CMR421]

I have been thru a very similar experience.  I am only 29 and also had a macula off retinal detachment.  Mine was fixed with a scleral buckle surgery within 24 hours of being found and I am still struggling with my vision.  And that was almost 7 months ago!  Currently the best corrected vision we can achieve is 20/70.   I'm hoping for better but it has been a very frustruating recovery!  

[Whinney]

I live in Toronto Canada...thanks for the info Doc.

I know there are no sure things, it's just nice to have something positive to focus on as far as long term improvement.  The surgeon has been great, and the staff have been up front about my vision not returning to where it was.

R

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Where do you live?

The good and the bad.  First your young age is in your favor.  I have seen young patient improve central vision over many years after a retinal detachment.  The bad part is a long standing retinal detachment does not recover as much vision as one fixed ASAP.

Dr. O.

[Whinney]

I will give you a little history/background.  I'm 36 Years old and in sales for a packaged goods company.  I started getting a red eye in my right eye.  It would flare up every couple of weeks.  I thought it was just strain from too much time on the computer, stress and lack of sleep etc...After this re-occuring for a while, I finally went to a clinic to get it looked at.  (I never thought to close my left eye and look only through my right to test my vision).  The clinic doctor looked into my eye, asked me a few questions and then forwarded me to their eye specialist.  She looked at me quickly and then told me I had a minor infection, and prescribed drops for 7 days.  The drops seemed to clear up the redness, and I stopped them after 7 days.  Day 8, the redness came back.  For some reason at that point I did close my left eye and realized that things were distorted out of my right.  I went to an optometrist, thinking I needed glasses, she gave an eye test and realized there was something wrong with my retina.  She decided it was a small tear and would need laser.  She made an appointment for March 5 (this was Feb 18), for a Retina Specialist.  After reading up on what a detached retina was, I decided to go in to a hospital that had an Opthmalogy Department, and when they saw me, they said it was completely detached (macular), and they scheduled me for surgery on the Monday Feb 23rd (this was Saturday the 21st).  

Sorry for the long message, but I wanted to explain why I was worried.  I'm not sure how long it was actually detached.

Thanks.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Results of a macular off detachment are varied.  Depends on age, how long it was detachment, how difficult the surgery was, etc.  Vision can improve slowly over years.

Dr. O.