Purpose: To describe a patient with bilateral retinitis pigmentosa and visually disabling vitreous opacities, who benefited from vitrectomy in both eyes.
Methods: A 37-year-old man with retinitis pigmentosa and severely constricted visual fields developed a large, dense, vitreous floater and visual obscuration in the right eye. Subsequently, diffuse vitreous opacification and visual obscuration developed in the left eye.
Results: Bilateral pars plana vitrectomy relieved the patient's visual obscurations. Electron micrographs of the excised vitreous opacity from the left eye showed collagen fibrils and cellular debris.
Conclusion: Visually significant vitreous opacities may develop as a complication of retinitis pigmentosa. The visual impact of such opacities may be magnified by its superimposition on limited visual fields. Vitrectomy may be of benefit in such cases.