Spontaneous stabilisation of symptomatic schisis detachments
- 1Department of Ophthalmology, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Blackpool, UK
- 2Academic Department of Ophthalmology, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Manchester, UK
- Correspondence to: Professor D McLeod Academic Department of Ophthalmology, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WH, UK; david.mcleodman.ac.uk
- Accepted 1 October 2003
Acquired retinoschisis affects 7% of people aged >40 years and is bilateral in 85%.1,2 Although retinoschisis is generally asymptomatic and stable, retinal detachment can supervene in one of three ways. Two of these are rare, are associated with posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), and justify surgical correction; thus, a retinal tear and detachment may originate within non-schitic retina or open breaks in the inner leaf of a schisis may allow fluid vitreous to be recruited into the cyst and thence to pass through breaks in the outer leaf, causing it to separate from the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) over a wide area. The third mechanism—“schisis detachment”—is quite common (for example, 9% prevalence in Byer’s series2) and reflects the opening of outer leaf breaks alone. No fluid vitreous gains access to the cyst or subretinal space whether or not …
