EARLY POSTOPERATIVE MACULAR MORPHOLOGY AND FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES AFTER SUCCESSFUL MACULAR HOLE SURGERY

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between early postoperative macular morphology and postoperative visual acuity in eyes that had undergone successful macular hole (MH) surgery. Methods: Pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane peeling were performed during surgery for idiopathic MHs on 25 eyes. The macular configuration was determined by optical coherence tomography, and best-corrected VA (BCVA) was measured postoperatively. Results: Eleven eyes had nearly normal foveal morphology (normal group) and 14 eyes had subretinal fluid or intraretinal cysts (abnormal group) at 1 month. Among the 14 eyes in the abnormal morphology group, normal foveal morphology was confirmed in 9 eyes 3 months and in the remaining 5 eyes 6 months after surgery. Mean BCVA improved significantly from the preoperative values in both groups 6 months after surgery. Conclusions: The morphology of the macular area was abnormal in more than one half of eyes that had successful MH surgery 1 month after surgery. However, by 6 months, all eyes had normal macular configuration, and BCVA was not significantly different in the two groups. We conclude that an abnormal morphologic appearance of the macular area in the early postoperative period does not predict the final visual outcome.