MACULAR VITREORETINAL INTERFACE ABNORMALITIES IN HIGHLY MYOPIC EYES WITH POSTERIOR STAPHYLOMA

Purpose: To review prevalence, long-term progression, and prognosis of vitreoretinal interface modifications in pathologic myopia with posterior staphyloma and investigate foveal sensitivity and fixation stability. Methods: Retrospective single-institution series of 214 eyes (116 patients) with path-ologic myopia, axial length.30 mm, and posterior staphyloma. Exclusion criteria included follow-up less than five years, incomplete records, and/or less than three optical coherence tomography or microperimetry. Patients were divided into 5 groups according to optical coherence tomography: 1) epiretinal membrane without schisis (ERM); 2) macular retinal schisis (Schisis); 3) partial thickness macular hole (PTMH); 4) full-thickness macular hole (FTMH); and 5) posterior retinal detachment (PRD) with or without macular hole. Disease progression was defined as a visual acuity decrease of two or more lines associated to objective worsening of the optical coherence tomography and/or microperimetry. Results: Vitreoretinal abnormalities at baseline were present in 116 of 204 patients (56.8%) and 214 of 408 eyes (52.4%); 98 of 116 patients (84.4%) showed bilateral involvement. Baseline visual acuity and foveal sensitivity varied significantly with ERM performing better and PRD worse than others; PTMH and FTMH did not differ. During the 66 months of average follow-up, 33 of 214 eyes (15.4%) required surgery and 13 of 33 eyes (39.3%) needed reintervention. Surgery rate significantly differed among groups: 2 % fo