Purpose: To describe the clinical characteristics of spontaneous reattachment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (SRRRD).
Design: Retrospective observational case series.
Participants: Fifteen patients who were diagnosed with SRRRD.
Methods: The medical records of 15 patients were reviewed. Spontaneous reattachment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment was confirmed via serial observation in 4 of the eyes, and the remaining eyes represented patients in whom the condition was presumed to develop.
Main outcome measures: Clinical features and association.
Results: This study involved 6 male patients and 9 female patients with a mean age of 48.0 years. The mean refractive errors in the involved and contralateral eyes were -5.0 and -5.3 diopters, respectively. All 15 eyes evidenced diffuse retinal pigmentary alterations within a sharply demarcated and convex margin. The lesions were located in the inferior retina in 10 of the 15 eyes, limited to 6 clock hours or fewer (66.7%). Although subretinal gliotic bands were detected within the lesion in 11 patients (73.3%), epiretinal proliferation was evident in only 2 patients (13.3%). Retinal changes associated with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment were noted in the fellow eyes of 7 patients (46.7%).
Conclusions: Spontaneous reattachment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment should be included in differential diagnoses of patients with diffuse retinal pigmentary alterations within a sharply demarcated convex margin in unilateral eyes. Small retinal breaks observed in nonvitrectomized eyes may be associated with the occurrence of SRRRD.