Prognostic value of new retinal tears associated with the development of postoperative proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

We prospectively evaluated for the presence of new retinal tears 60 eyes of 60 patients who developed recurrent retinal detachment complicated by proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) after surgery for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. New retinal tears associated with the development or recurrence of postoperative PVR were disclosed in 27 eyes (45%). New tears were categorized into two distinct groups: (1) peripheral new tears and (2) posterior new tears. Peripheral new tears were disclosed in 11 eyes. They were invariably located at the posterior edge of the vitreous base and showed a prevalence in the inferior quadrants. The prognosis for permanent retinal reattachment after reoperation was not influenced by the presence of peripheral new tears. Posterior new tears were disclosed in 19 eyes. They were located in the mid-periphery or close to the posterior pole. They were more frequent in grade D PVR (57.7%) compared with grade C PVR (11.7%) (P less than 0.01). Posterior new tears were associated with a poor prognosis. In grade D PVR the anatomic success rate following repeated surgery was only 13.3% (2/15 eyes), whereas all eyes with grade D PVR and no posterior new tears were successfully reattached (P less than 0.001). Failures to reattach the retina were related to recurrent PVR. It is concluded that the development of posterior new tears in postoperative PVR reflects a severe and active PVR process.