Retinal thickness in eyes with idiopathic macular hole after vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling.

Objective: To compare the thickness of each retinal layer in the parafoveal and perifoveal regions of eyes after successful closure of a macular hole (MH) by pars plana vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling to the corresponding areas of the normal fellow eyes.

Methods: Twenty-two eyes of 22 patients with an idiopathic MH who underwent PPV with ILM peeling at the Matsumoto Dental University Hospital were studied. The retinal thickness was measured manually with the volume scan mode of the Spectralis HRA + OCT (Heidelberg Engineering, Germany).

Results: The average postoperative parafoveal thickness of the temporal sector was 314.8 μm, and that of the corresponding area of the fellow eyes was 325.0 μm (P = 0.01). The parafoveal thickness of the nasal sector was 360.7 μm, and that of the fellow eyes was 339.6 μm (P < 0.0001). Changes in the inner retinal layer thicknesses contributed to the decreased temporal and increased nasal sectors. The perifoveal retinal thickness was significantly increased in all sectors after PPV, probably due to an increase in the outer nuclear layer thickness.

Conclusions: PPV with ILM peeling for MHs can cause microstructural changes in wide areas of the macula region, suggesting a loss of longitudinal support of the Müller cells.