The benefit of pars plana vitrectomy for the resolution of complications of proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Between 1997 and 2007, we have conducted eye surgery on 72 patients (i.e. 72 eyes) as a consequence of proliferative diabetic retinopathy complications. The patients' average age was 61; the follow-up observations were carried out over a period of one year after the surgery. When we compare the initial vision with the visual acuity measured during the last follow-up examination in the late post-operative period, i.e. one year after the surgery, we can conclude that the vision of 46 eyes (63%) had improved, 17 eyes (24%) did not show any change in vision, and the vision of nine eyes (13%) had deteriorated. Visual acuity of 1/60 (metric system) or better was found in 55 eyes (76%) during the late post-operative period; 6/60 vision or better was found in 29 eyes (40%), and four eyes (6%) showed 6/12 vision or better. If we compare the vision in the early post-operative period with the visual acuity during the last follow-up examination in the late post-operative period, we can conclude that in most cases, i.e. in 45 eyes (62.5%), the vision did not change any further during the months after the surgery, and one eye (1.5%) even showed improvement in visual acuity. It was confirmed that a positive result of pars plana vitrectomy observed in the early post-operative period may indeed persist even during the following months and years of the patient's life.

Keywords: proliferative diabetic retinopathy; pars plana vitrectomy