Kouichi Ohta, Atsuko Sato, Nami Senda, Emi Fukui Department of Ophthalmology, Matsumoto Dental University, Nagano, Japan Background: We have shown that the foveal contour was asymmetrical after idiopathic macular hole (MH) closure by pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling.The purpose of this Garnish Stations / Bar Caddies study was to determine whether these morphological changes differ in eyes after PPV without ILM peeling.Methods: Ten eyes of 10 patients that underwent PPV without ILM peeling and 12 eyes of 11 patients with ILM peeling were studied.The MH in all eyes was <400 µm in diameter.
Six months after the PPV, the macular thickness and foveal slope around the closed MH were determined by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.The thickness of the ganglion cell complex was measured by another spectral-domain optical coherence tomography instrument >6 months after the surgery.Results: The mean parafoveal retinal thickness in the non-peeled group was 367.1 µm in the nasal (N), 353.
0 µm in the temporal (T), 366.9 µm in the superior (S), and 357.3 µm in the inferior (I) sectors.The T, S, and I sectors were significantly thicker than the corresponding sectors in the ILM peeled group (p=0.
0008, 0.003, and 0.03, respectively).The mean ganglion cell complex was thicker not only in the N sector but also in the T sector in the non-peeled group.
The mean retinal slopes Tanks/Jerseys in the non-peeled group (N, 40.2°; T, 37.6°; S, 41.2°; I, 39.
5°) were flatter than those in the peeled group (N, 52.3°; T, 43.6°; S, 50.8°; I, 51.
9°; p=0.009, 0.09, 0.008, and 0.
017, respectively).Conclusion: The symmetrical fovea after MH surgery in the non-ILM peeled eyes indicates that the asymmetrical fovea after ILM peeling was probably due to the ILM peeling.Keywords: idiopathic macular hole, foveal contour, internal limiting membrane, vitrectomy.