Surgical repair of retinal detachment secondary to cytomegalovirus retinitis.

Background and Objective: This study was conducted to determine preoperative predictors of postoperative visual acuity in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis and retinal detachment.
Patients and Methods: The study design was a retrospective chart review of 38 eyes in 33 patients with AIDS and CMV retinitis who had retinal reattachment surgery by pars plana vitrectomy with the use of silicone oil tamponade. Factors considered included: preoperative visual acuity, macular attachment status and CMV activity at the time of surgery, and length of time from diagnosis of retinal detachment to surgical repair.
Results: Retinal reattachment was achieved in 37 of 38 eyes. Mean interval from surgery to best corrected visual acuity (VA) was 9 weeks. The mean best corrected post-op VA was 20/70. Approximately half of the patients died within 7 months of the surgery. There was good correlation between preoperative VA and best attained postoperative VA (Spearman's: r = 0.5139, P = 0.001). The interval from retinal detachment to surgery, and best attained postoperative VA did not correlate (Spearman's: r = 0.2339, P=0.158). The lack of macular CMV retinitis correlated well with postoperative VA (P = 0.0066, Wilcoxon rank-sum test).
Conclusions: Preoperative visual acuity and macular attachment status correlates with better postoperative visual acuity results, whereas early surgical repair of retinal detachment does not.