Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Management of subretinal macular haemorrhage by direct administration of tissue plasminogen activator
  1. R P Singh1,
  2. C Patel2,
  3. J E Sears1
  1. 1Vitreo-Retinal Service, Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
  2. 2Kresge Eye Institute, 4717 St Antoine Blvd, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
  1. Correspondence to: Dr Jonathan Sears Vitreo-retinal Service, Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA; searsj{at}ccf.org

Abstract

Background/aims: Recent studies on the treatment of acute subretinal macular haemorrhage have shown that the volume of the clot and the time to evacuation have strong prognostic factors for visual outcome. A novel technique for surgical evacuation of these lesions involves direct injection of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) into the haematoma using pars plana vitrectomy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of this recently described procedure.

Methods: 17 consecutive patients with subretinal macular haemorrhages caused by age related macular degeneration were enrolled. Patient demographics, acuities, and fluorescein angiograms were obtained for all evaluations. All patients underwent complete three port pars plana vitrectomy to enable direct cannulation of the subretinal space and injection of 48 μg of t-PA, partial fluid-air exchange, 1 hour face up supine positioning postoperatively, followed by upright positioning overnight.

Results: 88% of patients within the study had stabilisation or improvement of visual acuity. Nine patients had total clearing of the macular haemorrhage and eight patients had subtotal clearing. Two patients had recurrence of the haemorrhage after the procedure and one patient underwent repair for retinal detachment. Occult lesions demonstrated similar outcomes to classic or predominately classic lesions. Nine patients required no therapy after the study to treat subfoveal neovascularisation.

Conclusions: This study represents one of the largest case series to date showing that direct injection of subretinal t-PA with air-fluid exchange only and no intraoperative clot lysis period can have favourable results.

  • C3F8, perfluoropropane
  • t-PA, plasminogen activator
  • subretinal macular haemorrhage
  • tissue plasminogen activator
  • C3F8, perfluoropropane
  • t-PA, plasminogen activator
  • subretinal macular haemorrhage
  • tissue plasminogen activator

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Footnotes

  • Proprietary interest: none.

Linked Articles

  • BJO at a glance
    Creig Hoyt