Post-op Demarcation Lines After RRD Repair Inform Visual Recovery Prognosis

In the context of en-face OCT scans, postoperative demarcation lines represent the boundary between previously detached and reattached portions of the retina. This image from the study shows two hyperreflective demarcation lines: one above the fovea and another within the central 3mm ETDRS zone (white arrows). Note the areas of hyporeflectivity corresponding to the accumulation of SRF. Photo: Valsecchi N, et al. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. March 19, 2026. Click image to enlarge. Retina surgeons have several effective techniques to repair rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), typically vitrectomy using gas tamponade or silicone oil. Evaluation with OCT postoperatively may help doctors anticipate visual recovery, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Bologna identified hyperreflective demarcation lines between attached and detached retina using en-face OCT scans of eyes that had undergone vitrectomies using gas tamponade, but did not detect demarcation lines in those where silicone oil was used instead.The patient cohort consisted of 31 eyes from RRD patients who had undergone vitrectomy to treat it. Patients’ median age was 60.5 years, and women comprised 32.3% of gas tamponade patients and 48% of silicone oil patients. The researchers excluded eyes with other forms of retinal detachment, primary non-vitrectomy treatments and other conditions that could potentially interfere with the study. They also included a control group of 25 eyes treated with silicone oil that underwent removal after a median of 4.1 months.Over the course of the study, surgeons performed standard retinal detachment repair procedures. The researchers then acquired OCT images at en-face views one, three and six months after surgery. The researchers found that OCT imaging proved to be significantly more sensitive to the presence of demarcation lines than infrared photography. Such results emphasize demarcation lines as “a previously overlooked factor influencing visual dysfunction following PPV with gas tamponade,” as well as the necessity of using gas tamponade over other injection options because of its detailed capacity for revealing postoperative demarcation lines when combined with OCT imaging.“Notably, when these lines were within the central 3mm ETDRS zone, they were associated with a higher incidence of horizontal metamorphopsia,” the researchers wrote in their paper on the study for Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. “These results suggest that demarcation lines might represent a previously overlooked factor influencing visual dysfunction following PPV with gas tamponade.” Click here for the journal source. Valsecchi N, Padovani L, Fava CS, et al. Postoperative demarcation lines in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: what en-face imaging reveals about visual outcomes. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. March 19, 2026. [Epub ahead of print]. This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.