Outcome results in macular hole surgery with internal limiting membrane removal

Introduction
To determine the visual outcome and anatomic closure rate of macular hole surgery using pars plana vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling.

Material and methods
Fifty three eyes of 52 consecutive patients with a full-thickness idiopathic macular holes (stage 3 or 4). All eyes underwent a pars plana vitrectomy including separation of the posterior hyaloid, ILM peeling with trypan blue (TB) or indocyanine green (ICG) and gas endo-tamponade with instructions to the patient, to be face down for 4-5 days. Postoperative anatomic results, visual acuity (VA), and complications were recorded. The follow-up was 3 to 22 months.

Results
VA improved postoperatively in 45 eyes (84.9%), at least two lines on the Snellen chart in 24 eyes (45.3%). It remained unchanged in 6 eyes (11.3%) and deteriorated in 2 eyes (3.8%). The mean preoperative VA was 0.1±0.04 and does not differ significantly between stage 3 and 4. The improvement of postoperative VA was statistically significantly better in stage 3, in comparison to stage 4. The anatomical success rate (flat/closed) was 88.7% (47 eyes). There were no differences in VA improvement between TB- or ICG-stained eyes.

Conclusions
1. Vitrectomy with ILM removal in macular holes provides with meaning improvement in visual acuity. 2. Patients with macular hole in stage 3 have a better prognosis for visual rehabilitation. 3. A kind of dye and preoperative VA do not influence postoperative visual function improvement.