MACULAR HOLE FORMATION FOLLOWED BY SPONTANEOUS CLOSURE AFTER PNEUMATIC RETINOPEXY IN A PATIENT WITH DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA.

PURPOSE: To report early formation and spontaneous closure of a full-thickness macular hole that developed after successful pneumatic retinopexy in a patient who had been undergoing treatment for diabetic macular edema.

METHODS: Case report of a 68-year-old man with bilateral nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy who was currently undergoing anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment for bilateral diabetic macular edema.

RESULTS: On presentation, visual acuity was 20/200 in the left eye, and examination revealed a bullous, macula-off retinal detachment with a single horseshoe tear at 12 o'clock in the left eye. Pneumatic retinopexy was performed followed by laser augmentation 3 days later. Three weeks postoperatively, he returned with visual acuity of 20/50 and a full-thickness macular hole in the left eye. Although he elected for initial observation, he returned 2 weeks later with visual acuity of 20/50 in both eyes and a retinal detachment with a single break at 10 o'clock in the right eye. The macular hole in the left eye had spontaneously resolved. Pneumatic retinopexy was performed to the right eye. Over 1 year after bilateral pneumatic retinopexy, his retina remains without recurrence of a macular hole in the left eye.

CONCLUSION: In the early postoperative period after pneumatic retinopexy to repair a retinal detachment, a macular hole can form and spontaneously close.