title: Asymmetrical recovery of cone outer segment tips line and foveal displacement after successful macular hole surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the photoreceptor outer segments recover symmetrically after successful macular hole surgery, and whether the recovery is correlated with the degree of foveal displacement.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective, interventional case series. The medical records of 35 patients (n = 35 eyes) with a surgically closed macular hole were reviewed. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was used to obtain cross-sectional images across the fovea horizontally and vertically. The lengths of cone outer segment tips (COST) line defect in the temporal, nasal, superior, and inferior sectors of the fovea, the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and the papillofoveal distance were measured before and at 6 and 12 months after the surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The temporal COST line defect was significantly longer than the nasal length defect preoperatively (P = 0.031), at 6 months (P < 0.001), and at 12 months (P = 0.038) postoperatively. The length of the temporal COST line defect was significantly correlated with the BCVA preoperatively (P = 0.014) and at 6 months postoperatively (P = 0.001). The papillofoveal distance was significantly shorter at 6 months (P = 0.029) and 12 months (P = 0.043) postoperatively than at the baseline. The center of the COST line defect was located further temporally from the fovea postoperatively, and the distance was shorter than the nasal foveal displacement at 6 months (158.8 ± 167.0 μm, P = 0.13) and 12 months (244.8 ± 172.7 μm, P = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The restoration of the temporal COST line was delayed after successful macular hole surgery. In addition, the fovea was displaced more nasally than the center of the COST line defect which recovered centripetally. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01959776.).
authors.affiliation: Kyorin Eye Center, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Tosho
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rii
authors.forename: Yoshimasa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Akito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirakata
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012167:Retinal Perforations / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D055214:Retinal Photoreceptor Cell Outer Segment / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014821:Vitrectomy
keywords: cone outer segment tips line; idiopathic macular hole; spectral-domain optical coherence tomography; vitrectomy