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Relationship between long-term visual function and the ratio of foveal avascular zone area in eyes with macular hole and healthy fellow eyes

  • Retinal Disorders
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

This study is to investigate the relationship between long-term changes in the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and visual function of eyes with macular hole (MH) and compare the relationship between the FAZ of MH eyes and fellow eyes.

Methods

This study included 31 patients with unilateral MH who underwent vitrectomy and their fellow eyes. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and metamorphopsia were measured preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. We evaluated retinal parameters using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the superficial FAZ using OCT angiography. The FAZ ratio was defined as follows: (preoperative FAZ area of the MH eye)/(FAZ area of the fellow eye).

Results

The preoperative FAZ area of MH eyes was 0.42 ± 0.08 mm2, which decreased to 0.24 ± 0.07 mm2 1 month postoperatively (p < 0.001) and slightly increased to 0.25 ± 0.06 mm2 12 months postoperatively (p = 1.000). The FAZ area did not differ significantly from that of fellow eyes (0.39 ± 0.06 mm2, p = 0.281). The FAZ area of MH eyes was not associated with visual function at any time point. The FAZ ratio showed a correlation with the preoperative, 6-month, and 12-month BCVA (r = 0.604, p < 0.001; r = 0.510, p = 0.003; and r = 0.475, p = 0.007, respectively).

Conclusions

A larger FAZ in the MH eye than that in the fellow eye is associated with poorer long-term visual acuity. The preoperative comparison of the FAZ of the MH eye with that of the fellow eye may be a biomarker for predicting long-term visual acuity.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Ando thanks Dr. Gerd Klose for their assistance in the axial length correction of the analysis results of ZEISS OCT instrumentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Division of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Chuo-ku, Niigata City, Niigata, 951-8510, Japan

    Takumi Ando, Hiroko Terashima, Hiromitsu Yoshida, Eriko Ueda, Shun Ochiai & Takeo Fukuchi

  2. Ueda Eye Clinic, 603-1 Shimokajiya, Murakami City, Niigata, 959-3107, Japan

    Eriko Ueda

Authors
  1. Takumi Ando
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  2. Hiroko Terashima
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  3. Hiromitsu Yoshida
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  4. Eriko Ueda
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  5. Shun Ochiai
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  6. Takeo Fukuchi
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Contributions

Conceptualization: T Ando, H Terashima; Methodology: T Ando, H Terashima; Formal analysis and investigation: T Ando, H Terashima; Writing—original draft preparation: T Ando; Writing—review and editing: H Terashima; Funding acquisition: none; Resources: T Ando, H Terashima, H Yoshida, E Ueda, Shun Ochiai; Supervision: H Terashima, T Fukuchi.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takumi Ando.

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Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Ethics Committee of Niigata University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Ando, T., Terashima, H., Yoshida, H. et al. Relationship between long-term visual function and the ratio of foveal avascular zone area in eyes with macular hole and healthy fellow eyes. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-024-06433-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-024-06433-w

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