Purpose: To report the causes of retinal detachment in an African setting and the outcome after surgery.
Design: Noncomparative interventional case series.
Participants: A total of 361 eyes in 345 patients.
Methods: Data were collected from patients' case notes. A minimum of 2 months' follow-up was available for 254 eyes. Risk factors for poor anatomic or visual outcome were analyzed by logistic regression.
Main outcome measures: Primary anatomic success, which was defined as an attached retina at least 2 months after the initial surgery, without any additional interventions; final anatomic success, defined as an attached retina at least 2 months after the latest intervention; and visual outcome, defined as the corrected visual acuity at least 2 months after the last operation.
Results: The macula was detached at presentation in 332 (91.9%) eyes. In 203 (56.2%) eyes, the retina had been detached for >1 month. Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR)-grade C1 or worse-was present in 63 (17.5%) eyes. Thirty eyes (8.3%) had giant retinal tears. Ninety-five patients (27.5%) were blind (<20/400 in the better eye) at presentation. The retina was successfully reattached with 1 operation in 186 (73.2%) eyes. The most frequent cause of primary failure was missed breaks or new breaks. The final anatomic success rate in eyes observed for at least 8 weeks after the last operation was 88.2%. Giant retinal tear and PVR were significant independent predictors of anatomic failure. In eyes with successfully reattached retinas, 63.9% achieved 20/200 vision or better. Among successfully reattached macula-off detachments, risk factors for a poor visual outcome (<20/200) were macular hole, duration of retinal detachment >1 month, and poor preoperative acuity. Of 74 blind patients with 2 months' follow-up, only 23 (31.1%) remained blind at the latest follow-up.
Conclusions: Retinal detachment is a treatable cause of blindness in Africa. Despite late presentation and complex pathology, surgical repair is frequently successful and often restores navigational vision. Greater emphasis should be given to the recognition and treatment of retinal detachment in regional training programs for ophthalmologists and primary eye care workers.