[Foveoschisis in highly myopic eyes: clinical and tomographic features]

Foveoschisis is a rare condition in highly myopic eyes, characterized by intra-retinal cleavage associated with abnormalities of the vitreous cortex and occasionally cortical retraction. The natural history of foveoschisis is unpredictable. The functional prognosis is often favorable after surgical treatment.

We report 7 cases of macular retinoschisis in highly myopic eyes. We describe the optical coherence tomographic features as well as associated signs. The correlation with visual acuity was assessed.

Foveoschisis was undetected on clinical exam and visualized only on optical coherence tomography (OCT) in 4 cases. Mean central foveal thickness was 540 , mean visual acuity was 1/10—P10. The thicker the macula was, the worse was the visual acuity. The presenceor absence of serous retinal detachment did not affect visual acuity, whereas an epiretinal membrane or retraction of the vitreous cortex appeared to induce visual loss.

OCT has been demonstrated to be particularly useful for the diagnosis of visual loss in the high myope, notably in the case of foveoschisis. Anatomic-functional correlations in high myopic foveoschisis are not yet well clarified. Posterior pole retinal detachment and macular hole are the most serious complications.