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Br J Ophthalmol 84:448-449 doi:10.1136/bjo.84.5.448
  • Commentary

Sympathetic ophthalmia risk following vitrectomy: should we counsel patients?

Table 1

Estimated sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) risk after retinal surgery

Retinal surgical procedure as cause of SO New SO cases with previous retinal surgery No of retinal surgical procedures performed Estimated SO risk
1 PPV 3
>1 PPV 2
Total 5 3994 1 in 799
1 ext RD repair 2
>1 ext RD repair 1
Total 3 4070 1 in 1357
Total PPV or ext RD repair 7 8064 1 in 1152
  • PPV= pars plana vitrectomy; ext RD repair = external rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair.

  • Data on retinal surgical risks for SO obtained with permission from Kilmartin et al.3

  • Data obtained from grossed hospital episode statistics from the Department of Health, London; Office for Population Census and Surveys 4 codes C54 (excluding retinal photocoagulation) and C79 (excluding anterior vitrectomy).

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