Purpose: To determine the correlation between the recovery of foveal microstructure and the visual acuity or the foveal sensitivity after idiopathic macular hole (MH) closure.
Design: Prospective, consecutive, observational case series.
Methods: We studied 43 eyes of 43 patients before and 1, 3, and 6 months after MH surgery. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), the foveal sensitivity measured by MP1 microperimetry, and the photoreceptor inner and outer segment (IS/OS) junction and the external limiting membrane (ELM) determined by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography were investigated.
Results: Preoperatively, the lengths of the IS/OS junction defect and the ELM defect were significantly correlated with only the foveal sensitivity (P<.0001). At all postoperative times, the lengths of both the IS/OS and ELM defects were significantly correlated with both the BCVA and the foveal sensitivity (P<.05 for all). The preoperative lengths of both the IS/OS and ELM defects were significantly correlated with the foveal sensitivity at 6 months after surgery (P=.0022, P=.0031, respectively). The IS/OS junction defect was significantly correlated with the ELM defect at all times (P<.0001 for all). No restoration of the IS/OS junction was observed in eyes without the ELM restoration.
Conclusions: The restoration of the ELM is closely associated with that of the IS/OS junction. The preoperative IS/OS or ELM defect was associated with the postoperative foveal sensitivity. The restoration of not only the IS/OS junction but also the ELM may reflect the morphologic and functional recovery of the foveal photoreceptors in surgically closed MHs.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.