Vitrectomy for optic disc pit-associated maculopathy with or without preoperative posterior vitreous detachment

Masatoshi Haruta, Rika Kamada, Yumi Umeno, Ryoji Yamakawa

Department of Ophthalmology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of pars plana vitrectomy for the treatment of optic disc pit-associated maculopathy with or without preoperative posterior vitreous detachment.
Methods: We reviewed the clinical records of four consecutive patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy in one eye for the treatment of optic disc pit-associated maculopathy, with an emphasis on the preoperative condition of the posterior hyaloid membrane.
Results: Two of four eyes were confirmed to have an attached posterior hyaloid membrane, which was subsequently removed during surgery. Following vitrectomy, these two eyes experienced an improvement in visual acuity with complete retinal attachment of the macula. However, the other two eyes, which already had a posterior vitreous detachment at the time of surgery, showed a decrease in visual acuity with persistent maculopathy postoperatively.
Conclusion: Pars plana vitrectomy for optic disc pit-associated maculopathy was beneficial for improving visual acuity in two eyes without preoperative posterior vitreous detachment but not in two eyes with preoperative posterior vitreous detachment. Our study suggests that preoperative assessment of a posterior hyaloid membrane is clinically important in predicting the surgical outcome of optic disc pit-associated maculopathy.

Keywords: gas tamponade, internal limiting membrane, macular hole, optical coherence tomography, posterior hyaloid membrane, retinal detachment