Purpose: To study the natural history and morphologic characteristics of lamellar macular holes (LMHs) in the eyes with pathological myopia.
Methods: Retrospective observational case series of 44 eyes of 44 patients examined at a single institutional vitreoretinal practice. The included eyes must present an irregular foveal contour and schitic or cavitated lamellar separation of neurosensory retina on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and an area of increased autofluorescence on blue fundus autofluorescence (B-FAF) to be included. Presence of retinoschisis and posterior staphyloma, posterior vitreous status, changes of logarithm of minimum angle of resolution best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and changes of morphologic characteristics were evaluated.
Results: The mean follow-up period was 50.1 ± 28.9 months; 75% of the enrolled patients were female. At baseline, a standard epiretinal membrane (ERM) was detected in 93.2%, lamellar hole-associated epiretinal proliferation (LHEP) in 75%, and concomitant ERM and LHEP in 68.2% of the eyes, respectively. Visual acuity did not correlate with LMH diameters but correlated with central foveal thickness (p < 0.001). During the follow-up, the morphologic and functional parameters studied were relatively stable/improved in 60% of the eyes independently from the associated epiretinal material. Four eyes evolved to full-thickness (FT) MHs whereas spontaneous improvement was observed in five cases.
Conclusions: LMHs in highly myopic eyes are more prevalent in females, are frequently associated with ERM and LHEP, and show substantial stability of BCVA and the anatomic parameters evaluated with B-FAF and SD-OCT over years-long follow-up.
Keywords: Blue fundus autofluorescence; Epiretinal membrane; Lamellar hole-associated epiretinal proliferation; Lamellar macular holes; Optical coherence tomography; Pathological myopia.