Relationships between retinal break locations and the shapes of the detachments.

Purpose: Detecting primary breaks and confirming detachment preoperatively are important. Lincoff stated that retinal detachments progress according to gravity; his law has become popular. We evaluated Lincoff's law with a slight modification to determine whether it remains suitable for present cases independent of refractive error and previous cataract surgery.

Patients and methods: Group 1 included superior region detachments not exceeding the 12 o'clock midline; the original break was within 1 1/2 clock hours of the highest detachment border. Group 2 included shallow inferior detachment; the original break corresponded to the more spread side of the 6 o'clock midline. Group 3 detachments were beyond 12 o'clock; the original break was within a triangle with a 12 o'clock apex (A) or within 1 1/2 hours of 12 o'clock (B); (A) and (B) were stated in the original report. Another five classifications were applied for small numbers of detachments. Consecutive initial rhegmatogenous retinal detachment surgery patients were included; medical records and detachment charts were examined. Eyes were classified into categories and rates were calculated. Eyes that had never undergone previous cataract surgery besides those in which the macula remained attached were divided into groups at a -6 D cutoff (Groups 1, 2, and 3[B]); we compared groups in each category. We compared phakic eyes, pseudophakic eyes, and eyes ruptured at the posterior capsule (Groups 1, 2, and 3[B]).

Results: Finally, 747 eyes were categorized. In Groups 1, 2, 3(A), and 3(B), corresponding rates were 92, 86, 70, and 89%, respectively. Between the above and below -6 D groups, there was no significant difference in rate in any category. There were no significant differences between phakic, pseudophakic, and ruptured eyes.

Conclusion: Lincoff's law was suitable for the present cases and independent of refractive error and previous cataract surgery.