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Relationship between macular hole size and the potential benefit of internal limiting membrane peeling
R Tadayoni1, A Gaudric, B Haouchine
1Service d'Ophtalmologie, Hôpital Lariboisière, 2, Rue Ambroise Paré, Paris, France. ramin.tadayoni@lrb.aphp.fr
Aim:
To investigate the relationship between the size of macular holes and the possible benefit of internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling.
Methods:
84 consecutive cases of idiopathic macular hole followed up for at least 3 months were included in this retrospective study. Surgery comprised pars plana vitrectomy, peeling of any epiretinal membrane, 17% C2F6 (hexafluoroethane) gas filling and 10 days of positioning. 36 eyes had ILM peeling. The main outcome measure was the macular hole closure rate checked by optical coherence tomography.
Results:
The overall postoperative closure rate was 90.5%. For macular holes > or =400 microm in diameter, the rate was 100% with ILM peeling versus 73.3% without (p = 0.015). For smaller macular holes, the rates were 100% in both groups. Postoperative gain in visual acuity was not significantly different in eyes with ILM peeling and those without.
Conclusions:
ILM peeling does not seem to be useful for macular hole <400 mum in diameter. Its likely benefit has to be investigated for larger macular hole sizes, for which the failure rate is higher.
