clinical features and surgical outcomes of pediatric rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

purpose: to evaluate the clinical features, and functional and anatomical outcomes of surgical intervention for pediatric rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (rrd). methods: in this retrospective case series, pediatric patients with rrd who had undergone surgical intervention were included. cases were categorized into five main etiological groups: congenital or developmental (48 eyes), traumatic (54 eyes), myopia alone (12 eyes), previous ocular surgery (10 eyes), and miscellaneous (3 eyes). patients’ demographics, clinical, and surgical outcomes, as well as fellow eye findings were evaluated. results: one hundred and twenty-seven eyes of 108 patients (mean age: 12.1±4.1 years, 80.6% male) were included. scleral buckling and vitrectomy were the initial procedures in 31% and 63% of eyes, respectively. mean follow-up was 34±21 (median 33) months. retinal re-attachment at final follow-up was achieved in 74.9% of eyes. visual acuity was> 20/200 in 14% of eyes preoperatively and in 47.9% of eyes at final follow-up (p = 0.001). retinal pathologies (mostly lattice degeneration) were noted in 82.2% of fellow eyes. conclusion: trauma and congenital-developmental anomalies were the leading causes of pediatric rrd in this study. despite the complexity of rrd and presence of vision-threatening anomalies, anatomic and functional outcomes were acceptable. regular ophthalmoscopic examinations of the fellow eye is recommended for at risk children.