title: Significant correlation between visual acuity and recovery of foveal cone microstructures after macular hole surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether a recovery of the microstructures of the foveal photoreceptors after macular hole closure is correlated with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective, consecutive, observational case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  
  
  
  METHODS
  Single-center academic practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one eyes of 41 patients with surgically closed macular holes. OBSERVATIONAL PROCEDURES: The presence and intactness of the cone outer segment tips (COST) line were determined by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and compared with the presence of the inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction and the external limiting membrane (ELM) at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after the macular hole surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  The correlation between the integrity of the foveal photoreceptor microstructures and the BCVA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A distinct COST line was first seen at 6 months after the surgery. A distinct or irregular COST line was observed only in eyes with an intact IS/OS junction and ELM. Eyes with a distinct or irregular COST line had significantly better BCVA than those with a disrupted COST line in eyes with an intact IS/OS junction and ELM at 12 months (P = .030). The BCVA was ≥20/25 at 12 months in 91% of the eyes with a distinct or irregular COST line but in only 44% of the eyes without a COST line (P = .015).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significant correlation between the BCVA and a distinct or irregular COST line after successful macular hole surgery indicates that the recovery of foveal cone microstructure is associated with good postoperative BCVA.
authors: Kyorin Eye Center, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Yuji
authors: Y
authors: Itoh
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Inoue
authors: Tosho
authors: T
authors: Rii
authors: Tomoyuki
authors: T
authors: Hiraoka
authors: Akito
authors: A
authors: Hirakata
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D033401:Microscopy, Acoustic; D008875:Middle Aged; D018918:Phacoemulsification; D020127:Recovery of Function; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D012167:Retinal Perforations / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D014821:Vitrectomy
chemical_list: D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide; D007208:Indocyanine Green