Tractional Retinal Detachment: Prevalence and Causes in Nigerians

Aim: To determine the causes of tractional retinal detachment (TRD) in Nigerians.

Materials and methods: A prospective, multicentre study evaluating eyes diagnosed to have TRD. History, clinical examination (including visual acuity, intraocular pressure measurement, anterior segment examination and dilated fundoscopy) and systemic evaluation (including previous diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension, sickle-cell disease and others) were performed in TRD eyes out of a cohort of retinal detachment eyes.

Results: The prevalence of TRD of the 237 patients diagnosed with RD within a one-year study period was 25.7% (61 patients). Eighty eyes were diagnosed with TRD. Thirty-eight eyes of nineteen patients (31%) were bilateral, and 42 (69%) were unilateral. There were 38 male patients (62.3%) and 23 female patients (37.7%). The mean age was 52.3 ± 12.7 years (11-69 years). 88.5% of all TRD patients had an associated systemic disease, diabetes being the most common disease in 88.8% of them. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy was the most common cause of TRD (77.5%) and the most common cause of bilateral TRD. Both trauma and proliferative sickle-cell retinopathy occurred in 3.8% of the eyes. 68.8% of TRD eyes were blind at the presentation. However, the causes of TRD did not show any significant association with blindness (P = 0.819).

Conclusion: Proliferative diabetic retinopathy poses a significant threat to vision, being the most common cause of TRD. Early detection and treatment of proliferative retinopathy in diabetes and sickle-cell disease, and trauma prevention will significantly reduce the burden of blindness due to TRD.