CLOSURE OF SMALL MACULAR HOLES USING VITRECTOMY SURGERY WITH INTERNAL LIMITING MEMBRANE PEELING WITHOUT THE USE OF INTRAOCULAR GAS TAMPONADE: BROADENING THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MACULAR HOLE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

CHARACTERISTICS, OUTCOMES, AND OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY FEATURES OF MACULAR HOLE AFTER RHEGMATOGENOUS RETINAL DETACHMENT REPAIR

PURPOSE

To investigate full-thickness macular holes (FTMHs) that develop after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair.

METHODS

Retrospective consecutive case series of patients who underwent RRD repair between 2015 and 2021 and subsequently developed FTMH. Twenty-three patients (23 eyes) were included. All eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy + membrane peel for macular hole (MH) repair.

RESULTS

The mean age at RRD diagnosis was 62 years and 52% were male. In total, 78% were macula-off RRDs. Fourteen eyes (60.9%) underwent pars plana vitrectomy alone, 7 (30.4%) underwent pars plana vitrectomy and scleral buckling, 1 (4.3%) underwent scleral buckling only, and 1 (4.3%) underwent pneumatic retinopexy. Median time from RRD repair to MH diagnosis was 116 days. Macula-off RRDs had a significantly lower time to MH diagnosis (mean 154 days, P < 0.05) than macula-on RRDs (mean 875 days). Twenty-one MH (91%) had optical coherence tomography evidence of an epiretinal membrane. Mean logMAR visual acuity at MH diagnosis was 1.05 (∼20/224) and significantly improved to 0.66 (∼20/91) at the final follow-up ( P < 0.001); 100% of MHs closed by the final follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Pars plana vitrectomy for MH after RRD repair has a high closure rate and leads to significant VA improvement. MH formation after RRD repair may be associated with macula-off detachments and epiretinal membrane. Macula-off RRDs develop MH faster than macula-on RRDs.

Surgical Macular Hole Closure Without a Gas Tamponade

Purpose:

This work aims to evaluate the outcomes of a series of macular hole (MH) surgical procedures in patients who had pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peel and without gas tamponade.

Methods:

Patients from a retina specialty clinic who had MHs were identified for this interventional case series. Patients with small MHs were offered inclusion into the trial. Patients with larger MHs were excluded. They underwent standard 3-port PPV and ILM peel without gas or air to treat small MHs. The main outcomes that we measured were closure of MH and visual results.

Results:

Small MHs in 5 patients were managed with PPV and ILM peel alone. The average preoperative hole size at its narrowest width was 227 µm (range, 173-294 µm). Four of 5 patients (80%) had successful hole closure without a gas tamponade and improved vision; 1 patient did not have hole closure and was treated with an in-office gas bubble to close the hole. The average preoperative vision at 3 months was 20/80– (54 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] letters) and improved to 20/30–2 (73 ETDRS letters) in the 4 patients whose MHs were closed with surgery without a gas bubble. This was statistically significant ( P = .003). The hole that did not close initially without gas tamponade was the largest in the series.

Conclusions:

Patients with small MHs can be successfully treated with a vitrectomy and ILM peel alone without a gas tamponade.

Inverted Internal Limiting Membrane Flap Technique: Is It the Best Option for Macular Holes?

Surgical treatment is generally necessary to repair full-thickness macular holes (FTMH). Although vitrectomy with or without internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling remains the standard surgical technique, the inverted ILM flap procedure has increasingly assumed a role in the primary surgical repair of FTMHs. Some vitreoretinal surgeons reserve this technique to treat large or myopic holes, whereas others use it routinely in all cases. This paper is a comprehensive review of the current scientific evidence on the anatomical and functional outcomes of the inverted ILM flap technique in the repair of macular holes, following the International Vitreomacular Traction Study (IVTS) group classification.

Intraoperative Observation of a Macular Holes Using Optical Coherence Tomography

PURPOSE

This study aimed to observe intraoperative changes in macular hole (MH) form using intraoperative optical coherence tomography (iOCT).

METHODS

A total of 10 eyes from 10 patients with MH who underwent vitrectomy using iOCT from May 2015 to October 2015 at the Yamagata University Hospital were retrospectively evaluated. Accordingly, 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy using iOCT with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling and sulfur hexafluoride gas tamponade was performed on each patient. During surgery, MHs were observed using iOCT over four points, namely, before posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) formation, after PVD formation, after ILM peeling, and after fluid-gas exchange. Thereafter, basal MH diameter and minimum aperture MH diameter were postoperatively analyzed.

RESULTS

Before PVD formation, after PVD formation, after ILM peeling, and after fluid-gas exchange, the mean basal MH diameters were 690.7 ± 268.4, 683.3 ± 274.2, 683.7 ± 269.5, and 668.3 ± 261.4 μm, while the mean minimum aperture MH diameters were 278.3 ± 165.2, 283.0 ± 170.2, 257.0 ± 127.8, and 188.0 ± 105.0 μm, respectively. The mean minimum aperture MH diameter decreased significantly after fluid-gas exchange (one-way repeated measures ANOVA, p < 0.05). None of the patients exhibited intraoperative closure of the MHs. However, MH closure was confirmed in all patients after the surgery.

CONCLUSION

None of the patients demonstrated intraoperative MHs closure. Accordingly, the minimum aperture MH diameter was the first change formation to close after fluid-gas exchange.