Occult choroidal neovascularization after successful macular hole surgery treated with ranibizumab

To report on a case that developed an atypical form of occult choroidal neovascularization (CNV) after successful macular hole surgery.

Visual acuity change, color fundus photographs, fluorescein and indocyanine green angiograms, and optical coherence tomography results were compared throughout the follow-up duration.

A 64-year-old woman with a macular hole in the right eye and drusen in both eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy, internal limiting membrane peeling, and gas tamponade. One month after the operation she developed occult CNV, in which pigment epithelial detachment and fine retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) layer wrinkles were observed under the completely sealed macular hole. After 3-monthly intravitreal injections of ranibizumab, the lesion did not change significantly.

CNV can develop after otherwise successful macular hole surgery, especially in patients with pre-existing aging changes in the macula, such as drusen. Care should be taken in such patients, to prevent the development of CNV after macular hole surgery.