Acute bilateral Irvine-Gass Syndrome following uneventful cataract surgery in a patient without systemic risk factors

Abstract

Abstract We herein report a patient without risk factors who presented acute bilateral Irvine-Gass syndrome after uneventful phacoemulsification. The novelty of our case lies on the fact that the patient presented acute bilateral Irvine-Gass syndrome without a predisposing systemic disease. Even though Cystoid Macular Edema (CME) was somehow expected in the first eye because of the ocular history of trauma, prophylactic measures were not strong enough to avoid its development. Furthermore, those measures could not avoid developing CME in the second eye. A 44-years-old male who underwent cataract surgery in both eyes presented bilateral Irvine-Gass syndrome. Despite prophylactic measures, both eyes developed CME after uneventful cataract surgery. Regular treatment options could not solve the situation and intravitreal Anti-VEGF injections were needed. Bilateral cases of Irvine-Gass Syndrome are rare and generally associated with systemic risk factors. Patients who developed CME following their first cataract surgery should be counseled about the risks of developing the condition following surgery on the contralateral eye. On top of that, aggressive prophylactic measures should be encouraged to prevent CME in these cases.

Keywords

• Cystoid macular edema
• Irvine-Gass syndrome
• Cataract extraction
• Phacoemulsification