Aniseikonia and retinal morphological changes in eyes undergoing macular hole surgery

Abstract

Abstract Even after idiopathic macular hole (MH) surgery and with successful closure of MH, aniseikonia is a common postoperative symptom. We investigated the correlation of MH diameter, retinal displacement and retinal layer thicknesses with aniseikonia in 41 eyes of 41 patients undergoing MH surgery with internal limiting membrane peeling. Aniseikonia was measured with the New Aniseikonia Test. Retinal displacement (RD%) was defined as change of retinal distance between the temporal margin of the optic papilla and the intersection of the retinal vessels. Changes of thicknesses of the inner nuclear layer (INL%) and the outer retinal layer (OR%) were calculated. Aniseikonia improved postoperatively. Preoperative aniseikonia and their improvement at 6 months correlated with MH diameters (P = 0.004–0.046). Improvement of aniseikonia correlated with temporal RD% (P = 0.002–0.012). Improvement of vertical aniseikonia correlated with INL% at 2 weeks and with the nasal OR% at 1, 3, and 6 months (P = < 0.001–0.028). MH diameter and age were significant predictors for improvement of aniseikonia. The greater the temporal retina displacement, and the thinner the postoperative INL and OR, the greater the improvement of aniseikonia. MH diameter and age are strong predictors for improvement of aniseikonia after MH surgery.