A characterization study of the anterior segment morphology of patients with and without long-term silicone oil following vitrectomy.

Abstract

Purpose: To characterize the anterior segment (AS) morphology of patients with long-term silicone oil (SiO) in situ (> 12 months) following pars plana vitrectomy (PPV).

Methods: This prospective, comparative characterization study was conducted between January 2022 and July 2023. Patients were included and sorted based on if they had undergone PPV without long-term SiO or had SiO in situ for at least 12 months at the time of review and image collection. The Zeiss Cirrus HD-OCT (Carl Zeiss, Dublin, California, USA) was employed to image the ASs of study patients. Software within the OCT was used to collect the central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber diameter (ACd), anterior chamber depth (ACD), chamber area, temporal irideocorneal angle and nasal irideocorneal angle.

Results: A total of 78 eyes from 42 total patients were included, their mean age was 63.74 ± 19.13 years and 64.29% (27/42) of participants were males. Patients who underwent PPV with and without long-term SiO were found to have no significant difference in CCT, ACd, ACD, chamber area and irideocorneal angles compared to their fellow unoperated eyes. The multivariate analysis of variance of the pooled data noted a statistically significant difference in the ACd of PPV with long-term SiO eyes compared to PPV without long-term SiO and unoperated eyes (p = < 0.001).

Conclusion: These findings suggest PPV with long-term SiO may alter the AS morphology of patients, its influence on the development of OAG remains unclear and warrants further investigation.