Visual recovery after surgical repair of chronic macular detachment associated with peripheral retinoschisis

PURPOSE: To report 2 cases of chronic macular detachment associated with peripheral retinoschisis in which surgical repair resulted in significant visual recovery. OBSERVATIONS: A 44-year-old man and 60-year-old woman were evaluated for chronic macular detachment, with a duration of 5 years and 6 months, respectively. In each case, optical coherence tomography was used to establish a diagnosis of full-thickness macular detachment resulting from peripheral retinoschisis and to confirm or identify the pathogenic outer layer breaks. After surgical repair with pars plana vitrectomy, endolaser photocoagulation of outer layer breaks, and gas tamponade, both patients had significant improvement in vision. The best-corrected visual acuity improved from 20/50- to 20/20 at one year post-operatively in the first patient and from 20/1250 to 20/200 at 8 months post-operatively in the second. CONCLUSION AND IMPORTANCE: In cases of chronic schisis-detachment involving the macula, surgical intervention can sometimes result in unexpected levels of visual recovery.