title: Observations on patients with idiopathic macular holes and cysts.
abstract: We reexamined 96 patients with macular holes or cysts. The mean follow-up period was 4.7 years. Of 19 eyes with macular cysts, only two (10.5%) showed progression to a macular hole. In 15 (79%) of those 19 eyes, the cyst disappeared. Of 80 patients with a macular hole or cyst in one eye and a normal fellow eye, a hole developed in the fellow eye in only one patient (1.2%) and a cyst developed in the fellow eye in only two patients (2.5%). Of 66 eyes with a stage 3 full-thickness macular hole, three eyes (5%) showed resolution without any sign of a hole. Our results suggest a favorable prognosis for normal fellow eyes of patients with macular holes or cysts and for eyes with cysts. Eyes with full-thickness macular holes have a less favorable prognosis, although their natural history may not be as poor as previously thought.
authors.affiliation: Retinal Vascular Center, Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Md.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Guyer
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Bustros
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diener-West
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Fine
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003560:Cysts / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D012167:Retinal Perforations / Q000473:pathology*