Treatment outcomes of pars plana vitrectomy in patients with Benson’s disease

Introduction
In Benson’s disease (scintillatio albescens or asteroid hyalosis) slight, white condensations of phospholipids are seen in the vitreous. In advanced stages, the decrease of visual acuity or subjective discomfort of vision may follow due to floaters. The pars plana vitrectomy is the treatment of choice in these patients. Purpose: To evaluate surgical treatment outcomes in Bensons’ disease.

Material and methods
The research was carried out in a group of patients with Benson’s disease, who had undergone 23G or 25G pars plana vitrectomy in 2012–2014. The evaluated data included: diagnosis, the pre- and postoperative best corrected visual acuity as well as the pre- and postoperative ocular ultrasound (B scans). The study group consisted of 7 patients (8 eyes), including 5 men and 2 women, at the age of 66 to 82 years (mean age of 74 years).

Results
In 5 patients with concomitant cataract, combined procedures of phacoemulsification and pars plana vitrectomy were performed. In one patient, pars plana vitrectomy was done first followed by phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation at a later date. In two cases, only pars plana vitrectomy was performed. All patients were examined 7 days postoperatively and the follow up period ranged from 1 month to 1 year (mean follow up duration of 8 months). Visual acuity and subjective comfort of vision improved in all cases.

Conclusions
Pars plana vitrectomy enables improvement of visual acuity and subjective comfort of vision in patients with Benson’s disease. It was confirmed in both subgroups, i.e. in patients who underwent both pars plana vitrectomy and phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation, and those in whom only vitrectomy was performed.