[Profile of macular holes in Cotonou]

To establish the epidemiological and tomographic profile of macular holes in the Beninese subject.

This cross-sectional study included consecutive patients seen for macular testing during the period from January 2016 to August 2017 at the St. Anthony of Padua Retinal Testing Center in Cotonou (Benin). All patients who had a macular hole and macular OCT were included. To define macular hole types, we used the 2013 DUKER New Classification and analyzed for each case: age sex, history, involved eye, fellow eye, visual acuity, hole type, hole diameter, status of the vitreous cortex, edge edema, mean macular thickness, presence of vitreomacular traction, epimacular membrane, and retrofoveal choroidal thickness. Patients with a pseudo-macular hole or lamellar hole were excluded.

During this study period, 401 patients underwent a macular OCT procedure at the Retinal Testing Center, with 22 patients having a macular hole, of which 15 women and 07 men for a sex ratio of 2.14 women to men. The mean age of the patients was 61±10 years, with a median age of 63 years. The mean diameter of the holes was 705μm±232μm. No small holes were found. The mean central macular thickness was 272μm±39μm. In 52.4% of cases, the condition of the felloweye indicated the presence of vitreomacular traction. The etiological profile of the macular hole found in 72.7% a primary origin, and a secondary origin (diabetic and traumatic) in 13.6% and 9.09% respectively.

The majority of the macular holes observed were large macular holes, which could be explained by the progressive course of these macular holes as well as late detection. Over half of the fellow eyes showed vitreomacular traction, reflecting the potential risk of bilateralization.

Macular hole is a pathology of the vitreomacular interface, tending to be large in our geographic context. On OCT, the data found remain comparable those reported in the literature.