Choroidal thickness changes in eyes with idiopathic macular hole after pars plana vitrectomy and gas endotamponade

Purpose: To investigate the change in subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in eyes that underwent pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for idiopathic macular hole (IMH). Material and Methods: Eyes with unilateral IMH diagnosis and no other retinal pathology (Group 1) were included in this prospective and controlled study. The control group (Group 2) was formed with the healthy fellow eyes of the patients. PPV operation, inverted internal limiting membrane (ILM) fl ap technique and intraocular sulfur hexafl uoride (SF6) gas implantation were applied to eyes with IMH. SFCT was measured by optical coherence tomography with the enhanced depth imaging method in all eyes during the 6-month follow-up period at the fi rst, second, third and sixth months. Results: Sixty-four eyes of 32 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 67.3 years. The success rate in closing the macular hole was 93.75%. In the preoperative period, the mean SFCT in Group 1 (211.8 μm) was statistically signifi cantly thinner than Group 2 (245.0 μm) (p <0.012), and this difference became more pronounced after PPV in the 6-month postoperative follow-up period (p <0.000) Conclusion: Choroidal thickness in eyes with IMH may be thinner than in healthy fellow eyes, and this thinness may deepen after macular surgery and gas endotamponade application.