Changes in visual field defects during 10-year follow-up for indocyanine green-assisted macular hole surgery

To determine whether the visual field defects detected within 3 months of indocyanine green (ICG)-assisted inner-limiting membrane (ILM) peeling continue to worsen over longer periods.

This was a retrospective observational case series. Four eyes with visual field defects that developed within 3 years of ICG-assisted ILM peeling for a macular hole (MH) were examined yearly for 10 years. The main outcome measures were the degree of mean deviation (MD) determined by Humphrey perimetry with the 30-2 SITA-Fast program and the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).

Four patients were examined yearly for more than 10 years, with a mean duration of follow-up of 139.5 months (11.6 years) and a range of follow-up of 137-156 months (11.4-13 years). The mean (±standard deviation) preoperative MD value was -4.99 ± 3.26 dB, and the mean postoperative MD values were -12.9 ± 1.29 dB after 1 year, -14.1 ± 0.75 dB after 3 years, and -12.73 ± 2.65 dB after 10 years. The mean preoperative BCVA was 0.65 ± 0.26 logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution (logMAR) units, and the postoperative BCVA was 0.21 ± 0.07 logMAR units at 1 year, 0.28 ± 0.21 logMAR units at 3 years, and 0.14 ± 0.06 dB logMAR units at 10 years.

The visual field defects detected soon after ICG-assisted ILM peeling continued to worsen for 3 years, but not thereafter.