Outer foveolar defect after surgery for idiopathic macular hole.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the clinical implications of outer foveolar defects on optical coherence tomography (OCT) in eyes treated surgically for macular hole (MH).


METHODS
Retrospective observational case series.


METHODS
Ninety-six eyes of 93 subjects who had undergone surgery for the treatment of idiopathic MH were included. Clinical data, including OCT prior to and at follow-up visits ranging from 3 to 32 months after surgery, were analyzed. Incidence, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of outer foveolar defect were evaluated.


RESULTS
Outer foveolar defects were noted on postoperative OCT in 44 of the 96 eyes (45.8%). The mean preoperative diameter of MH in the eyes (333.5 ± 126.3 μm) evidencing outer foveolar defects was significantly smaller than those that did not (504.2 ± 155.6 μm) (P < .0001). The mean disappearance time of the defect was estimated to be 182 days after surgery. The mean postoperative visual acuity (logMAR) improved to 0.40 ± 0.26 from 0.58 ± 0.23 after the disappearance of outer foveolar defects.


CONCLUSIONS
Outer foveolar defects were detected predominantly after surgery for small MHs. The defect decreases gradually in size and eventually disappears completely approximately 6 months after surgery.
Kang
Se Woong
SW
Department of Ophthalmology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. swkang@skku.edu
Lim
Ji Won
JW
Chung
Song Ee
SE
Yi
Chan-Hui
CH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002386:Cataract / Q000209:etiology; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D019773:Epiretinal Membrane / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012167:Retinal Perforations / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014821:Vitrectomy; D055815:Young Adult
D005466:Fluorocarbons; C042852:perflutren