Comparisons of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness changes after macular hole surgery.

Purpose: To compare postoperative changes in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with macular holes treated with vitrectomy with Brilliant Blue-assisted internal limiting membrane peeling.

Methods: Twenty-two eyes of 20 patients with macular holes were studied. Each eye was selected to undergo Brilliant Blue-assisted internal limiting membrane peeling. The circumferential retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was determined using spectral domain optical coherence tomography preoperatively and 2 months postoperatively. Mean overall and sectoral retinal nerve fiber layer thicknesses were obtained for each patient.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference (p≥0.05) between the pre- and post-treatment measurements in relation to each CFN variable, i.e., on average, pre-treatment measures were the same as post-treatment measures. Furthermore, despite the differences between the pre- and post-treatment measures always being positive (pre-post >0), they are not statistically significant.

Conclusions: This study showed no significant decrease in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measurements after macular holes surgery, regardless of age or sex.