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Internal limiting membrane removal for traumatic macular holes
Objective:
To evaluate a new surgical technique for traumatic macular holes and to provide epidemiological information for such holes.
Materials And Methods:
Vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane (ILM) removal but without adjuvant use on 17 consecutive eyes.
Results:
The hole closed in 100% of eyes. Vision improved > or = 2 Snellen lines in 16 eyes (94%). The macula showed additional trauma-related damage in 10 eyes (59%). No permanent complication related to ILM removal was seen. Among 4440 eyes with contusion trauma in the United States Eye Injury Registry, the risk of macular hole formation is 9 times higher in eyes closed than with open globe injury (1.4% versus 0.15%).
Conclusions:
Without introducing special risks, removal of the macular ILM appears to be a highly successful surgical option in improving vision in eyes with traumatic macular holes. The majority of eyes benefit from ILM removal, even when additional traumatic macular pathology is present.

