Bilateral rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: frequency and clinical characteristics of surgically-treated eyes in a single academic hospital

Purpose To report frequency and clinical characteristics of bilateral rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) which was treated surgically in a single academic hospital. Methods Consecutive Cases of RRD which underwent vitrectomy or scleral buckling surgery between January 2019 and December 2023 at Teikyo University School of Medicine, Mizonokuchi Hospital (Kawasaki, JAPAN) were retrospectively studied.. Clinical characteristics including functional and anatomic features of RRD, presence of systemic disease, and history of eye diseases or surgery were analyzed. Characteristics of unilateral and bilateral RRD were compared. Results Among consecutive 340 patients undergoing RRD surgery, 320 patients had the surgery for one eye, and 20 patients (5.8%) had for both eyes. The mean age of unilateral cases was 53 ± 13 years with 212 males (66%) and that of bilateral was 54 ± 15 years with 17 males (85%, chi-squared test: P = 0.08). Anatomic and functional characteristics, and surgical outcomes are similar between the 2 groups. The time between occurrence of RRD of 2 eyes was very variable, 98 ± 111 months (range 16 days to 29 years). Patients with a history of cataract surgery and retinal manifestations like familiar exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR suspects) were more frequent in bilateral group than unilateral group (chi-square test, P = 0.006 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Conclusions Frequency of bilateral RRD is 5.8% whose intervals between RRD of two eyes range from days to decades of year. Patients with previous IOL surgery appear to be more concomitant with bilateral RRD than unilateral, which would be useful to predict bilateral occurrence of RRD.