Daunomycin and silicone oil for the treatment of proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

We describe the long-term results after treatment of 68 eyes showing advanced stages of proliferative vitreoretinopathy with vitrectomy, daunomycin perfusion, and silicone-oil injection. Six reoperations were performed. After 18 months, 73% of the eyes showed no signs of retinal detachment and 89% had a visual acuity of greater than 20/800. These results are better than those reported in previously published studies. Whether this improvement was due to the daunomycin treatment or to more aggressive surgical techniques such as retinotomies remains to be answered by a randomized trial.