BILATERAL APHAKIC RETINAL DETACHMENT

In a study of 563 patients with aphakic retinal detachment (ARD), the prevalence of bilateral detachments was 15.3%. Patients with bilateral aphakia and those with unilateral aphakia experienced 21% and 6% prevalences of bilateral detachment, respectively. The mean ages were similar for men and women, for unilaterally and bilaterally affected patients, and for patients with and without lattice degeneration. Lower mean ages occurred in patients with a history of ocular or orbital trauma. A significant predominance of men was found in both bilateral ARD (70%) and in traumatic ARD (77%). Patients with bilateral aphakia and a unilateral detachment had a slightly greater than 1% per year risk of fellow eye detachment. Patients with unilateral aphakia and an ipsilateral detachment had a low risk of detachment in the phakic fellow eye, but this risk rose significantly if the lens were removed.