Cataract Surgery after Retinal Detachment Surgery with Arruga’s Sutures: Case Report

A 56-year old female patient presented to our clinic with a complaint of low vision in her right eye. Twenty-two years earlier she had undergone a scleral buckling operation in her right eye because of retinal detachment. She indicated that vision in her right eye was good after the surgery but had recently been gradually declining. Best-corrected vision acuity was counting fingers at 1 meter in the right eye and 8/10 in the left eye. Anterior segment examination revealed stage 3 nuclear cataract in the right eye. Examination of the right eye was blurred and revealed an area of chorioretinal atrophy posterior to the equator, approximately 3 disc diameters in the peripapillary zone and about 2 disc diameters in the nasal papilla zone. Anteriorly of the equator there was an area of chorioretinal atrophy as well as a narrow, sharply demarcated, shiny 360⁰ suture with high buckling pressure, situated intraretinally but extending into the vitreous in some places. The structure was thought to be made of polyethylene. Around the suture there were retinal atrophic changes. After detailed explanation of the possible surgical complications and after obtaining informed consent, the right eye cataract was removed by phacoemulsification and a foldable intraocular lens was placed into the capsule. During the operation, we worked under low fluid pressure and as atraumatically as possible due to the possibility of intraocular pressure changes and the risk of the suture causing retinal and blood vessel tears or passing completely into the eye and causing intravitreal hemorrhage. A month after an uncomplicated surgery, the posterior segment examination demonstrated a reattached retina and the patient’s best corrected visual acuity was 6/10.