Idiopathic macular hole after the internal limiting membrane (ILM) is removed during surgery, the intraoperative optical coherence tomography can be used to observe the presence of debris tissue (RF) protruding into the vitreous cavity at the edge of the hole. Current studies suggest that RF may be caused by epiretinal proliferation and vitreomacular traction, but it is still controversial, and the influence of postoperative anatomical and functional recovery is not clear. Common points can still be found, some of the studies suggest that RF is not conducive to postoperative anatomical and functional recovery during the operation, ILM fragments remain on RF tissues after ILM peeling and re-staining. However, in some studies suggest that RF is beneficial to postoperative anatomical and functional recovery, and ILM fragments on RF are removed. This suggests that whether ILM is removed on RF lead to a certain influence on the postoperative efficacy. There are few researches on RF at present, so it is necessary to understand RF from its essence and assist judgment through histological analysis.
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy of inverted internal limiting membrane (ILM) flap technique with autologous blood for myopic macular hole.MethodsA retrospective, case-controlled study. Twenty-nine eyes of 29 patients with myopic macular hole who received treatment in Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from January 2017 to May 2019 were enrolled in this study. There were 5 males (5 eyes) and 24 females (24 eyes), with an average age of 55.28±11.40 years. According to the surgical method, the patients were divided into inverted ILM flap group (12 eyes) and ILM peeling group (17 eyes). All patients underwent BCVA, spectral domain OCT and axial length measurement before surgery. There was no significant difference between the two groups in age, gender, course of disease, hole diameter, BCVA and other baseline data. Follow-up was over 4 months after surgery. The BCVA, macular hole closure and continuity of outer retina after surgery were observed.ResultsIn ILM peeling group, 11 eyes were closed (64.7%) and 6 eyes were not closed at 3 months after surgery. In ILM flap group, 12 eyes were closed (100.0%). The difference of closure rate between two groups was statistically significant (χ2=5.34, P=0.028). The BCVA of inverted ILM flap group was significantly improved at 1, 3 months after surgery compared with preoperative measurements, and the difference was statistically significant (F=3.813, 4.667; P=0.003, 0.001). The BCVA of ILM peeling group was improved at 1 month after surgery, but the difference was not statistically significant (F=1.556, P=0.139). And the BCVA was significantly improved at 3 month after surgery compared with preoperative measurements, and the difference was statistically significant (F=2.453, P=0.026). But there was no significant difference in BCVA between the two groups at 1 and 3 months after surgery (F=0.647, 0.535; P=0.551, 0.612). There was no significant difference in the recovery of outer structure (ELM and EZ continuity) between the two groups at 3 month after surgery (F=0.008, P=0.631).ConclusionsInverted ILM flap technique with autologous blood is a safe and effective method to treat myopic macular hole. The closure rate of the hole can be improved significantly.