Visual and anatomical outcomes of pars plana vitrectomy for dropped nucleus after phacoemulsification

Purpose: To determine the prognostic factors and visual and anatomic outcomes of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) in patients with dropped nucleus following complicated phacoemulsification (PE). Methods: The records of patients with complicated PE who underwent PPV to remove posteriorly dislocated nucleus fragments from January 2011 to December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Of 43 patients, 36 patients (36 eyes) were included with mean age of 73 ± 9.5 years and mean follow-up duration of 23.8 ± 15.3 (range 4-53) months. The mean interval between cataract surgery and PPV was 11.5 ± 9.6 (range 1-45) days. The pre-PPV mean best-corrected visual acuity (VA) was 1.04 ± 0.24 logMAR, which improved to 0.46 ± 0.18 logMAR (P < 0.001). Pre-PPV VA ≥20/200 was significantly associated with good final VA ≥20/40 (P = 0.002). Implantation of intraocular lens (IOL) at the time of complicated PE and complicated course after PPV were significantly associated with poor visual outcome of