The correlation between height of macular detachment and visual outcome in macula-off retinal detachments of < or = 7 days' duration.

Objective: To determine the relationship between the height of macular detachment and visual recovery after treatment of macula-off retinal detachments (RDs) of < or = 7 days' duration.

Design: Prospective comparative case series.

Participants: Fifty-two eyes of 52 consecutive patients who presented to one institution with macula-off RDs of < or = 7 days' duration were prospectively enrolled in the study.

Methods: Gender, age, lens status, duration of macular detachment, and presenting visual acuity (VA) were recorded for all patients. Each patient underwent a 3-dimensional B-scan ultrasound examination at the time of presentation. The height of macular detachment was calculated using the mean measured distance between the retinal pigment epithelium and the outer neurosensory retina 3, 4, and 5 mm temporal to the center of the optic nerve head. All patients underwent primarily successful reattachment surgery within 7 days of macular detachment. Final vision was recorded with a minimum of 6 months' follow-up.

Main Outcome Measure: Postoperative VA evaluated as a continuous variable.

Results: For the 52 subjects, a direct correlation between lower height of macular detachment and better final postoperative vision (dependent variable) was observed with linear regression (slope, 0.114; 95% confidence interval, 0.022-0.206; P = 0.016). Multivariate linear regression analysis with a backward stepwise approach did not demonstrate any significant association between postoperative vision and predictor variables (gender, age, lens status, duration of macular detachment, macular height, and preoperative vision), except for macular height.

Conclusion: Lower height of macular detachment correlates with better visual recovery after treatment of macula-off RDs of < or = 7 days' duration.