Pars Plana Vitrectomy for Vitreomacular Traction Syndrome: Analysing the Preoperative Prognostic Factors.

Purpose: To identify the prognostic factors affecting the surgical outcomes in patients with vitreomacular traction syndrome undergoing pars plana vitrectomy.

Methods: This was a retrospective clinical study of 67 eyes of 67 patients with vitreomacular traction syndrome who underwent pars plana vitrectomy. Demographic, clinical, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) characteristics were collected and analyzed. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis were used to examine the effect of parameters on change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).

Results: At a mean follow-up period of 15.9±12 months (mean±SD), the BCVA improved from 0.7±0.3 LogMAR (mean±SD) to 0.5±0.3. Seven patients developed full-thickness macular hole intraoperatively and tamponade (air, 20% SF6 or 12% C3F8) was used in 41 patients. Retinal breaks were identified intraoperatively in four patients. Regression analysis demonstrated that the preoperative BCVA was the only parameter affecting the postoperative visual outcome.

Conclusion: In the present study, the preoperative BCVA plays a predictive role in the surgical outcome of patients with VMT undergoing pars plana vitrectomy. No other preoperative OCT characteristics demonstrated prognostic potential. Further prospective studies are needed in order to examine the role of several factors that could potentially facilitate preoperative patient counselling.