Fundus autofluorescence in macular hole surgery
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 4, 2026
Quantitative Fundus Autofluorescence for the Evaluation of Retinal Diseases
Published on: March 11, 2016
Background:
Macular holes usually are diagnosed by biomicroscopy. Fluorescence angiography (FLA) is helpful especially for judging early stages or pseudoforamina. The importance of fundus-autofluorescence in macular hole surgery was studied.
Patients And Methods:
Twenty-five consecutive patients with macular holes (n = 21) and clinically-similar appearances (n = 4) were examined biomicroscopically. In addition, fundus-autofluorescence and FLA were determined by Heidelberg-Retina-Angiograph (HRA, Heidelberg, Germany). A vitrectomy was performed on 16 patients with macular hole stage II, III, and IV, and membrane peeling was performed if necessary. Platelet-concentrate as an adjuvant agent was used in all surgeries, and all 16 patients were examined afterward.
Results:
In all patients with macular hole stage III and IV (n = 18), fundus-autofluorescence revealed a marked hyperfluorescent spot in the foveolar region and also a hyperfluorescence in FLA. Patients with macular hole stage II (n = 3) showed a slight punctured hyperautofluorescence and a subtle window-defect in the FLA. Postoperatively, the autofluorescence was normal in all eyes with a closed macular hole (87.5%). In some patients, a variable punctured hyperautofluorescence was noticed (n = 3). In eyes with pseudoforamina, the autofluorescence was normal (n = 4).
Conclusion:
In macular hole diagnostics, fun-dus-autofluorescence is able to replace invasive fluorescence angiography. The autofluorescence is helpful for the examination of pseudoforamina and might be useful for estimating therapeutic success.
