Timely air tamponade effective in post-cataract surgery Descemet's membrane detachment

This retrospective study found that timely treatment with anterior chamber gas injection can be effective for post-cataract surgery Descemet's membrane detachment. However, there was less risk of pupillary block with air than with C3F8 among the patients in the study, and final visual outcomes were poor in more complicated cases.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the only study that describes risk factors for visual prognosis after the use of air and C3F8 and compares the visual and safety outcomes.

Subjects included 44 patients who underwent anterior chamber gas injection (descemetopexy) with air or 14% isoexpansile perfluoropropane (C3F8).

The anatomic and functional outcomes of descemetopexy with air were better than with C3F8, with reduced incidence of pupillary block. However, final visual acuity was adversely affected in patients with more advanced cataracts, those who had undergone small incision cataract surgery, or those with a prolonged duration of intervention after cataract surgery.

They note that since the final visual outcome of descemetopexy for Descemet's membrane detachment is poor in cataracts with higher scores, procedures in these cases should be performed by trained surgeons who should be cautious about this complication at each step of the surgery.