【关键词】 visual,loss;,silicone,oil

　　Vitreoretinal Services, Sankara Nethralaya, 18 College Road, Chennai, 60006, India

　　Keywords: visual loss; silicone oil

　　We read with great interest the article by Cazabon et al.1

　　In all the three patients it would have been better to compare the visual acuity just before the silicone oil removal than immediate visual acuity after initial vitrectomy, because contact of the eye with the silicone oil could also be responsible for visual loss as it was known to cause optic nerve damage, as described in earlier reports.2

　　Earlier, Newsom et al also3 reported unexplained sudden visual loss following silicone oil removal in seven patients. They also observed only electrophysiological abnormalities.

　　Maybe the unexplained visual loss could be the result of optic nerve damage and diffuse gangilion cell dysfuntion caused by a silicone oil tamponade effect on the eye rather than the procedure of silicone oil removal itself.

　　References

　　Cazabon S, Groenewald C, Pearce IA, et al. Visual loss following removal of intraocular silicone oil. Br J Ophthalmol 2005;89:799802.

　　Budde M, Cursiefen C, Holbach LM, et al. Silicone oil-associated optic nerve degeneration. Am J Ophthalmol 2001;131:3924.

　　Newsom RS, Johnston R, Sullivan PM, et al. Sudden visual loss after removal of silicone oil. Retina 2004;24:8717.