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Massachusetts Eye and Ear
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Ophthalmology Outcomes

Retina Surgery

Our Retina Service is one of the largest subspecialty groups of its kind in the country. Our clinicians are highly skilled at diagnosing and treating the full range of retinal conditions, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachments, ocular tumors, intraocular infections, and severe ocular injuries.

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Of the 401 included procedures for retinal detachments:

  • 1 was a pneumatic retinopexy (100% had an attached retina after one surgery)
  • 33 were scleral buckle procedures [90.9% (n=30) had an attached retina after one surgery, and 100% had an attached retina after multiple surgeries]
  • 70 were combined scleral buckle and pars plana vitrectomy [98.6% (n=69) had an attached retina after one surgery, and 100% had an attached retina after multiple surgeries]
  • 297 were pars plana vitrectomies [94.6% (n=281) had an attached retina after one surgery, and 100% had an attached retina after multiple surgeries)

With a 100% reattachment rate for primary RRD repair after one or more surgeries, the Mass Eye and Ear Retina Service continues to maintain high success rates for this procedure. For the past 12 years, the Retina Service has consistently met international benchmarks of 97% to 100% for successful RRD repair.1-5

Although rare, acute endophthalmitis is a potential complication of intravitreal injections. At Mass Eye and Ear, rates of endophthalmitis after intravitreal injection are low compared to international benchmarks.5


The endophthalmitis rate for calendar year 2023 is similar to the overall rate for the past 14 calendar years, where the overall rate of endophthalmitis after intravitreal injection was 0.016% (30 of 179,324 injections).

Proton beam irradiation was developed at Mass Eye and Ear in conjunction with a team of radiotherapists from Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1975, the first proton beam irradiation treatment was administered to a Mass Eye and Ear patient with intraocular malignant melanoma1.

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