What is a Macular Hole?  What is the treatment for a Macular Hole?

A macular hole is a retinal defect in the macula, the center of one’s vision.  A patient can experience a significant loss of their central vision.   The causes of a macular hole include:  trauma, retinal membranes, and many time this condition just happens spontaneously with no reason.   There are different stages of a macular hole, stage 1 (mild) to stage 4 (complete).  Treatment options depend on the stage of the macular hole.  These include no treatment for stage 1 to surgical treatment for more advance stages.

The surgical treatment often includes a vitrectomy (removing the clear fluid from the center of the eye), peeling off any membranes from the retina, and/or injecting gas into one’s eye.  If a patient receives a gas injection they will be required to keep their head in a face down position for up to two weeks.  Also, no airplane travel is allowed.   The success rate of improving one’s vision is often good with these procedures.

Treatment options:

     Monitoring

     Surgically removing clear fluid from the center of the eye (vitrectomy)

     Surgically peeling of membranes from retina

     Injection of gas into eye