Clinical study of intravitreal injection of expansile gases in treatment of vitreomacular traction

Abstract

VMT is a condition with an abnormal adhesion of vitreous to the macula. In classic form it is separated from the retina throughout the peripheral fundus but remains adherent posteriorly. We studied the efficacy of intravitreal expansile gas injection with proper patient positioning for relieving VMT, using OCT as main modality to image response. To study the efficacy of intravitreal injection of expansile gases (SF or CF) in releasing VMT and the improvement in the visual acuity. The study was conducted in a tertiary eye care centre during the period of October’14 to ‘16. 37 eyes of 30 patients were included. Those with HVMA of 750 µm had a 26.66% failure rate of non-resolution. The 33 eyes (P= 0.026) which were relieved of the traction provided a significant relevance of this treatment method in case of symptomatic VMT. Eyes treated with expansile gas injection and resolution of VMT showed non-significant improvement after one week of injection (P = 0.089), but did show significant improvement after one and three months (P<0.01). For patients unable to undergo long surgeries like PPV with ILM peeling, this modality of intravitreal expansile gas injection serves to relieve the traction easily and reduces any sort of visual distortion.