Heads-up 3-D viewing system increases surgeon comfort

Issue: April 25, 2019

Nasiq Hasan

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A heads-up 3-D viewing system increased comfort for a surgeon performing macular hole surgeries and had noninferior results when compared with clinical outcomes of a conventional microscope, according to a speaker here.

“The 3-D viewing system appears to be as safe and effective as the conventional microscope. It has the added advantage of surgeon comfort and teaching experience,” Nasiq Hasan, MD, said at the Retina World Congress.

A prospective, randomized trial included a single surgeon completing 25 macular hole surgeries using a conventional microscope and 25 surgeries using a 3-D heads-up viewing system. Patient outcomes were compared after 3 months’ follow-up.

The patients had either stage 3 or stage 4 macular holes. They underwent pars plana vitrectomy, multilayered inverted internal limiting membrane flap technique surgery with SF₆ tamponade and face-down positioning for 3 days.

Patients who underwent surgery with the 3-D viewing system experienced similar macular hole closure rates as patients who underwent surgery with a traditional microscope. They also experienced a mean 3-month postoperative visual acuity rate of 0.6132 logMAR compared with 0.621 logMAR for patients who underwent traditional surgery, Hasan said.

All intraoperative parameters were comparable, and noninferiority was established in the clinical outcomes for both groups. Additionally, surgeon comfort with the heads-up viewing system was greater than with the traditional microscope. – by Robert Linnehan

Reference:

Hasan N. Comparison of clinical outcomes between “heads-up” 3D viewing system and conventional microscope in macular hole surgeries. Presented at: Retina World Congress; March 21 to 24, 2019; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Disclosure: Hasan reports no relevant financial disclosures.