The Risk of Sympathetic Ophthalmia Following Vitreoretinal Surgery

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical course and the outcomes of sympathetic ophthalmia and correlate these with the nature of the inciting event and the number of vitreoretinal procedures undergone by patients. DESIGN: A retrospective case review. SUBJECTS: All patients diagnosed with sympathetic ophthalmia who have been treated or monitored at a single centre over a 15 year period. METHODS: A search of the electronic patient record system at Moorfields Eye Hospital, Londo over a 15 year period (between January 2000 and December 2015) was carried out, using the search terms "sympathetic", "ophthalmia" and "ophthalmitis". 61 patients with available records were identified and data collected from their complete electronic and paper records. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures looked at were the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 1 year and at the end of follow up and the number of vitreoretinal surgical procedures preceding the diagnosis. Data was also collected to report on patient age, gender, disease duration, ocular and systemic manifestations, ocular complications, retinal angiography and treatment. RESULTS: There was a wide age range at presentation (2-84) and the length of follow up ranged 1-75 years. The first ocular event was trauma in 40 patients and surgery in 21. Vitreoretinal (VR) surgery accounted for 13 of the 21 surgical first event triggers (62%). 23/61 patients (38%) underwent VR surgery (1-7 operations) at some point prior to diagnosis. Surgical details were available for 15 patients, who had a total of 25 VR procedures carried out. Based on the surgical activity of the unit, the risk of developing SO following a single VR procedure is estimated at 0.008%, rising to 6.67% with 7 procedures. A total of 23 patients (38%) experienced a decrease in acuity at the end of the follow up period, versus 9 patients (15%) experiencing an improvement and 18 (30%) remaining unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: We feel that the most significant finding in this study is the calculated risk of SO development following a single VR procedure, which is significantly lower in our cohort than previously reported in the literature. This is seen to rise exponentially with additional procedures