title: Early imaging of macular hole closure: a diagnostic technique and its quality for gas-filled eyes with spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to establish a reliable method to determine macular hole (MH) closure of gas-filled eyes.
  
  
  METHODS
  21 consecutive eyes with MH underwent vitrectomy with gas tamponade, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was performed using our diagnostic technique. The quality of OCT images was rated as signal strength (SS) and evaluated by masked observers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The quality to determine MH closure (SS ≥4) was sufficient in all eyes. In addition, SD-OCT images (SS ≥6) obtained from 16/21 eyes showed detailed retinal structures including the inner segment/outer segment line. The next day after surgery, MH closure was confirmed in 12/21 eyes, and residual MH was observed in 9/21 eyes. Among these 9 eyes, 7 eyes were closed within 2 weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present method provided clear SD-OCT images from gas-filled eyes, which is not only essential for the diagnosis of MH closure but also for establishing proper protocols and for studying the pathology of gas-filled eyes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Takehiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawano
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sonoda
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamakiri
authors.forename: Taiji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016684:Prone Position; D012167:Retinal Perforations / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride / Q000008:administration & dosage; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D014821:Vitrectomy
chemical_list: D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride