Submacular fluid after encircling buckle surgery for inferior macula‐off retinal detachment in young patients

. Purpose: Characterization of persistent diffuse subretinal fluid using optical coherence tomography (OCT) after successful encircling buckle surgery for inferior macula‐off retinal detachment in young patients. Methods: Institutional retrospective review of six young patients (mean age 31 ± 6 years; five female, one male) with spontaneous inferior rhegmatogenous macula‐off retinal detachment. All patients were treated with encircling buckle surgery and five out of six underwent additional external drainage of subretinal fluid. Mean follow‐up was 37 ± 25 months (range 17–75 months) and included complete ophthalmic and OCT examination. Results: At 6 months, 100% of patients showed persistence of subretinal fluid on OCT. Four patients had diffuse fluid accumulation, whereas two patients showed a ‘bleb‐like’ accumulation of fluid. This fluid was present independent of whether or not patients had been treated with external fluid drainage. Subretinal fluid only started to disappear on OCT between 6 and more than 12 months after surgery. Conclusion: Young patients with inferior macula‐off retinal detachments and a marginally liquefied vitreous may show persisting postoperative subclinical fluid under the macula for longer periods of time than described previously.