Internal limiting membrane peeling for large macular hole: Tailoring the rhexis to the shape of the hole

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To report a simple modification of internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling tailored to the shape of the macular hole to improve the closure rates. Methods: This is a single?center interventional case series. conducted between 2016 and 2020. The minimum follow?up was 4 months. All surgeries were performed by one surgeon. Twenty consecutive patients (21 eyes) with large idiopathic macular holes (horizontal diameter ?600 ?m) were enrolled; vertical hole diameters were also measured using spectral?domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Following vitrectomy, ILM peeling was performed over a horizontally oval area (additional 1 disc?diameter temporally); perfluoropropane gas (C3F8, 15%) tamponade was used. Hole closure and change in best?corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were monitored after absorption of the gas. Preoperative and postoperative visual acuities were compared using paired t?test. IBM SPSS (ver. 26) was used for analysis. Results: The macular holes were horizontally oval rather than circular without exception mean horizontal and vertical diameters were 714 ?m (range 600–1020 ?m) and 602 ?m (490–844 ?m), respectively. Following vitrectomy, macular hole closure was obtained in 20/21 eyes by the last follow?up (mean 28 months, median 34 months; range 4–48 months). Mean Snellen BCVA improved from 20/200 to 20/63 (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: All the macular holes in the study were observed to be horizontally oval. A corresponding horizontal enlargement of the ILM rhexis yielded excellent anatomical and satisfactory visual outcomes: