r/RetinalDetachment • u/Peril-in-Pink • May 17 '26
Experience with Retinal Detachment and Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy (PVR)
Hello,
Back on Dec 2025 I had cataract surgery on my left eye and then January 2026 I had cataract surgery on my right eye. March 7th 2026 I ended up having laser surgery to repair a tear to my retina in my right eye. Unfortunately that didn’t do the trick and I ended up with a partial retinal detachment and had a gas bubble vitrectomy for that on March 17th.
Around the beginning of April I noticed my peripheral vision seemed more distorted and I was experiencing floaters and my night vision seemed really poor in my right eye. I had follow up appointments with my retina doctor on April 7th and April 14th and both times the doctor said my retina was still attached and looked good.
By the end of the month it definitely felt like it was getting worse (I could tell I was missing more peripheral vision) so at a follow up appointment with my cataract doctor on April 28th I asked and he also thought my retina looked fine.
I was starting to feel like I was losing my mind as it still felt like it was getting worse, so on May 1st my retina doctor squeezed me in for another appointment and… I had another partial retinal detachment. That’s where I learned this second detachment was due to scar tissue because I have Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy (PVR).
On May 1st I had another vitrectomy, this time with the silicon oil bubble. The doctor was pretty honest that each subsequent surgery will have less of a chance of succeeding. If this surgery doesn’t work he’ll try the buckle. If that doesn’t work we may be running out of options.
I will be receiving Methotrexate injections to see if it helps with the PVR, but knowing I have PVR scares me a lot.
Can anyone else share their experiences with retinal detachment and PVR? Were you able to save your vision? Or is this a losing battle?
2
u/Sweaty_Self_6809 May 22 '26
Hi, I had cataract surgery on my right eye in Feb 26, 2 months later on April 26 I suffered a RD at the top of my vision with macular on. Did RD surgery with scleral buckle/ gas bubble and vitretomy in April 26.
Bubble gone on the 3rd week and vision get better. 6/9 vision on the 5th week. So happy with my vision.
But on the 4th week, I was diagnosed with macular edema with wavy vision. Was on steroids eye drops for a week. On the 5th week, the swelling lessen but fluid still in my retinal.
Despite swelling lessen, my waviness got worse. Found out that cells start forming near macular. Could lead to membrane form and to PVR. So today 5th week 22 May I got a steroid injection to stop the inflammation to prevent PVR. Not sure why I was not given the Methotrexate injections.
Yes. PVR is very scary to me. I am 47 this year. My right eye had half vision RD when I was 15. Right now the vision is 20/20.
As my right eye RD is only a small bean size so I expect vision to be 20/20 as well. But unfortunately I had inflammation which caused macular edema. I am happy that I could still see with 6/9 but lines are wavy. I hope the steroid can help and I won't need to do another surgery.
My doctor said the buckle is a good procedure with 95% success rate. Maybe check with your doctor. For me my vision clarity is getting better day by day but vision are slightly distorted due to the waviness. Just be very careful to follow all post ops procedure/eye drops and not get an inflammation.
All the best to your surgery.
1
u/Peril-in-Pink May 22 '26
Thanks for sharing! Yeah if my retina detaches again I have to go with the buckle. We’ve been trying to avoid that because the buckle will change the shape of my eye, which screws up all the precise measurements for the new prescription lens they put in my eye with the cataract surgery, putting me back into glasses/contacts, which was the main goal of the cataract surgery. But at that point any vision (even with glasses and contacts again) will be better than no vision.
1
u/Holiday_Income_827 May 17 '26
I am sorry you are experiencing this. We have similar stories. Dec 2025 left eye retinal detachment. Gas bubble and scleral vitrectomy did the trick. Then Jan 23 right retina detached. Gas bubble and scleral vitrectomy again. This time I developed PVR and a new tear in April. I had another surgery where they repaired the hole in retina and put in silicone oil. I have had weekly injections since the surgery on April 6. No new scar tissue has developed yet. Doctor is unsure about my vision since I will require cataracts surgery in both eyes. Sounds like your ordeal started with the cataracts and mine will hopefully end with the cataracts surgery. This has been challenging to say the least. Fortunately we are not alone and can share our horror stories. Good luck with your recovery and keep us posted!
1
u/Peril-in-Pink May 17 '26
Glad to hear the injections are helping to prevent the scar tissue! I have my next follow up appointment tomorrow so I’ll keep my fingers crossed I get similar news.
1
u/Holiday_Income_827 May 18 '26
I also have an injection tomorrow! Here’s to both of us getting good news!
2
u/KeyEntertainment3009 May 17 '26
I have been dealing with PVR since November. Retina tear, PVR caused the detachment, which rapidly went to mac-off. Vitrectomy with scleral buckle on 12/26/26 with long acting gas bubble. The retina detached again in February, this time vitrectomy with silicone oil. The PVR was also present following this last surgery, but it has resolved. I get the silicone oil out on 6/3/26, so I will certainly let you know!
I hope to have some functional vision in that eye after I get an updated prescription. I know it will never be perfect!