Macular vitreoretinal interface abnormalities in highly myopic eyes with posterior staphyloma: 5-year follow-up.

PURPOSE: To review prevalence, long-term progression, and prognosis of vitreoretinal interface modifications in pathologic myopia with posterior staphyloma and investigate foveal sensitivity and fixation stability. METHODS: Retrospective single-institution series of 214 eyes (116 patients) with pathologic myopia, axial length >30 mm, and posterior staphyloma. Exclusion criteria included follow-up less than five years, incomplete records, and/or less than three optical coherence tomography or microperimetry. Patients were divided into 5 groups according to optical coherence tomography: 1) epiretinal membrane without schisis (ERM); 2) macular retinal schisis (Schisis); 3) partial thickness macular hole (PTMH); 4) full-thickness macular hole (FTMH); and 5) posterior retinal detachment (PRD) with or without macular hole. Disease progression was defined as a visual acuity decrease of two or more lines associated to objective worsening of the optical coherence tomography and/or microperimetry. RESULTS: Vitreoretinal abnormalities at baseline were present in 116 of 204 patients (56.8%) and 214 of 408 eyes (52.4%); 98 of 116 patients (84.4%) showed bilateral involvement. Baseline visual acuity and foveal sensitivity varied significantly with ERM performing better and PRD worse than others; PTMH and FTMH did not differ. During the 66 months of average follow-up, 33 of 214 eyes (15.4%) required surgery and 13 of 33 eyes (39.3%) needed reintervention. Surgery rate significantly differed among groups: 2% for ERM, 20% to 25% for Schisis, PTMH, and FTMH, and up to 50% for PRD. Progression rate of Schisis and FTMH was the same, regardless of symptoms, while macula-off PRD always required surgery. Decrease of fixation stability and foveal sensitivity correlated to need for surgery, while baseline foveal sensitivity and fixation did not. CONCLUSION: Vitreoretinal interface pathology in pathologic myopia with posterior staphyloma encompasses a spectrum of conditions whose baseline functionality, prognosis, rate, and amount of progression vary significantly. Customized treatment for each different condition should be considered.

Macular function in eyes with early age-related macular degeneration with or without contralateral late age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE: To evaluate psychophysical and electrophysiologic responses in eyes with early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) without a decrease in visual acuity and with or without late AMD in the fellow eye. METHODS: Fifteen patients (mean age: 67.9 +/- 7.20 years) with early AMD in both eyes (AMD1 group, 15 eyes) and 15 patients (mean age: 71.40 +/- 7.06 years) with early AMD in one eye and late AMD in the fellow eye (AMD2 group, 15 eyes) were enrolled. They were compared to 15 age-similar normal control subjects. LogMAR visual acuity (VA), macular sensitivity by MP-1 microperimetry, and multifocal electroretinograms (mfERG) were assessed in control, AMD1, and AMD2 eyes. mfERG response amplitude density (RAD, nV/deg2) of the N1-P1 component of first order binary kernels was measured. RESULTS: When compared to controls, AMD1 and AMD2 eyes showed a significant (analysis of variance, P < 0.01) decrease in MP-1 microperimetry assessed in the 0-2.5 and 2.5-5 degrees of the macula, significantly correlated (Pearson test, P < 0.01) to the corresponding significant decrease (P < 0.01) in mfERG N1-P1 RADs assessed in the 0-2.5 and 2.5-5 degrees. In AMD1 and AMD2 eyes, VA and mfERG N1-P1 RADs assessed in the 5-20 degrees were similar (P > 0.01) to controls. VA, MP-1, and mfERG values were not significantly different in AMD1 and AMD2 eyes. CONCLUSION: In eyes with early AMD there is a dysfunction of preganglionic elements in the central 0-5 retinal degrees detectable by mfERG or MP-1 microperimetry. This impairment is not further influenced by the presence of late AMD in the fellow eye.

Posterior vitreous detachment and retinal detachment after cataract surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate possible changes of vitreous status in emmetropic eyes after uneventful phacoemulsification surgery, and possible related complications such as the onset of retinal detachment (RD). DESIGN: Retrospective case series. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred fifty-three emmetropic eyes from 453 patients (mean age, 62.03+/-5.57 years) subjected to uneventful phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation in the capsular bag were considered in the study. They had a refractive error within +/-0.5 diopters (mean, -0.21+/-0.08). Eyes with peripheral retinal lattice degeneration were included only if asymptomatic and only if the degeneration involved one retinal quadrant. After cataract surgery, the 453 eyes were evaluated preoperatively at days 1, 15, and 30 and months 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 60. The whole period of follow-up was 5 years. METHODS: Evaluation of vitreous status by biomicroscopic examination, indirect binocular ophthalmoscopy, and B-scan ultrasonography. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Postoperative onset of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) and RD. RESULTS: After cataract surgery, a PVD occurred in 107 of 141 (75.88%) eyes without preoperative PVD or lattice degeneration. Posterior vitreous detachment occurred in 41 of 47 eyes (87.23%) with preoperative lattice degeneration and no PVD. Eyes with preoperative lattice degeneration and postoperative PVD showed a higher incidence of RD after cataract surgery (21.27%) than eyes without preoperative PVD or lattice degeneration (0.70%). In all patients with lattice degeneration, RD originated from horseshoe retinal tears on lattice areas located on the superior quadrants. No correlation was observed between the development of RD and age. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the onset of postoperative PVD should be considered an important risk factor for the development of RD after cataract surgery, particularly in eyes with lattice areas.

Retinal detachment associated with macular hole in high myopia: using the vitreous anatomy to optimize the surgical approach.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of different surgical strategies on the postoperative outcomes of retinal detachments (RDs) associated with macular holes (MHs) in high myopia. DESIGN: Prospective, noncomparative case series. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 120 phakic, highly myopic eyes (mean degree of myopia, -22.2+/-4.80 diopters) with RDs and MHs that underwent surgical repair. The patients were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 consisted of 60 eyes with a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). Mean preoperative visual acuity (VA) was 20/200+/-20/500. Group 2 consisted of 60 eyes with posterior vitreous schisis (PVS). The mean preoperative VA was 20/152+/-20/333. The minimum follow-up was 6 months. INTERVENTION: The surgical approach was chosen on the basis of the clinical characteristics. Twenty-five eyes of group 1 underwent pneumoretinopexy (group 1A), whereas 35 eyes of group 1 were repaired with vitrectomy (group 1B). Forty-nine eyes of group 2 underwent pars plana vitrectomy (group 2A), whereas 11 eyes of group 2 underwent scleral buckling of the macula (group 2B). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Anatomic attachment of the retina and VA. RESULTS: Retinal reattachment at 6 months was achieved in 23 of 25 (92%) eyes of group 1A, 31 of 35 (88.5%) eyes of group 1B, 45 of 49 (91.8%) eyes of group 2A, and 8 of 11 (72.7%) eyes of group 2B. A significant (P<0.01) improvement of postoperative VA with respect to the preoperative values was observed in all groups. The greatest percentage improvement in postoperative VA was observed in groups 1A and 1B eyes. CONCLUSIONS: Different surgical approaches can be used to repair myopic RD associated with an MH. The choice between different surgical techniques may depend on vitreoretinal relationships, the extent of chorioretinal atrophic areas, and presence of posterior staphyloma. In our study, eyes with a PVD had significantly better visual outcomes than detachments in eyes with PVS.

Cataract surgery as a risk factor for retinal detachment in very highly myopic eyes.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence of retinal detachment (RD) after cataract surgery performed by phacoemulsification in very highly myopic eyes. DESIGN: Retrospective, paired-eye, case-control trial. PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION: We assessed the development of RD in 930 eyes from 930 subjects (mean age = 62.5 +/- 8.5 years) affected by very high myopia (between -15 and -30 diopters) undergoing cataract surgery after uncomplicated phacoemulsification (cataract-subjected [CS] eyes). Fellow eyes served as controls. Follow-up was 36 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Detachment of the retina. RESULTS: Retinal detachment was observed in 8.0% of CS eyes compared with 1.2% of control eyes (P<0.01, chi-square test). In CS eyes, posterior RD was most common (52.7% of eyes with RD). In control eyes, peripheral detachments with or without macular involvement were most common (47.3% of eyes with RD). CONCLUSION: Cataract surgery, despite the use of a safe technique such as phacoemulsification, increases the risk of RD development in very highly myopic eyes.

Development of macular pseudoholes: a 36-month period of follow-up.

PURPOSE: To assess the changes in visual acuity and macular sensitivity and the possible evolution into a full-thickness macular hole in patients with macular pseudoholes during a 3-year follow-up period. METHODS: Twenty-seven eyes (mean age, 61.0 +/- 8.9 years) with macular pseudoholes were enrolled. They were compared with 16 eyes from 16 age-matched control eyes. In each eye with a macular pseudohole, we assessed the Snellen visual acuity and macular sensitivity by scanning laser ophthalmoscopic central (1-2 degrees of the macula, SLO-CM) and paracentral (annular area from 2-7 degrees from the macula, SLO-PM) microperimetry at the time of diagnosis (baseline condition) and every 6 months for 3 years. RESULTS: Eyes with macular pseudoholes at baseline had a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in visual acuity, SLO-CM, and SLO-PM when compared with control eyes. After 12 months of follow-up, no changes in VA, SLO-CM, or SLO-PM were observed in eyes with macular pseudoholes with respect to the baseline values. After 36 months of follow-up, further significant (P < 0.05) decreases in visual acuity, SLO-CM, and SLO-PM were observed. One third of eyes with macular pseudoholes showed an evolution into a full-thickness macular hole. In these eyes, the lowest SLO-CM had been observed at the baseline condition. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that in the 36-month follow-up period in eyes with macular pseudoholes, there is the possibility of a worsening trend, leading to the development of a full-thickness macular hole. A useful role of the functional assessment by SLO-CM and SLO-PM can be suggested for the clinical diagnosis and the follow-up of macular pseudoholes.