Visual acuity following retinal detachment surgery.

A poor visual acuity following an anatomical cure of a retinal detachment was in this series always associated with a change in macular morphology, the commonest maculopathy being the appearance of a cellophanemembrane. Factors influencing the visual prognosis are duration and extent of the detachment, involvement of the macula, the age of the patient and the presence of pre-operative periretinal membrane formation. The type of buckling procedure is not related to the visual outcome and while the conversion of the procedure into an intra-ocular operation, either by way of drainage of subretinal fluid or by intra-vitreal injection, can cause serious complications we suggest that uncomplicated drainage of subretinal fluid has not been a cause of macular pucker in this series but that this conditions is related to the indication for drainage, namely a varying degree of rigidity of the retina due to periretinal membrane formation.