Multiple Subretinal Fluid Blebs After Successful Retinal Detachment Surgery: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Presumed Pathophysiology

PurposeTo investigate the incidence and the clinical factors associated with the occurrence of multiple subretinal fluid (SRF) blebs after successful rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD) repair.DesignRetrospective, observational case series.MethodsWe retrospectively investigated the medical records of 185 eyes of 184 patients who had undergone successful RD surgery, either vitrectomy or scleral buckling. Each patient had undergone spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) combined with infrared reflectance (IR) imaging every 3 months postoperatively. We carefully examined postoperative SDOCT and fundus IR images, in an effort to identify any SRF blebs present.ResultsMultiple (≥3) SRF blebs were observed in 40 of 185 cases (21.6%). SRF blebs were first detected 1.7 ± 1.8 months postoperatively. In 22 cases that could be fully followed up, SRF blebs were completely absorbed 13.1 ± 6.1 months postoperatively. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that only young age (<30 years) was significantly associated with the occurrence of multiple SRF blebs (odds ratio, 5.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-17.6; P = .010). Serial measurements of SRF bleb size using SDOCT showed that SRF bleb height was greatest at postoperative 2.9 ± 0.9 months, while SRF bleb width tended to decrease gradually over time. The SRF blebs typically spared large retinal vessels.ConclusionsMultiple SRF blebs are commonly found after successful RD surgery, especially in young patients. The serial morphologic features evaluated in this study indicate that multiple SRF blebs may result from the active reattachment of retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptors during the resolution of RD.