PURPOSE: To investigate the long-term results of a novel technique to preserve the foveolar cone without peeling off the foveolar internal limiting membrane (ILM) during myopic traction maculopathy surgery.
METHODS: Nineteen patients (19 eyes) were retrospectively studied and divided into 2 groups by the extent of ILM peeled and followed for more than 3 years. Group 1: foveolar ILM nonpeeling group (FN) (12 eyes) and Group 2: total peeling of foveal ILM group (TP) (7 eyes). A donut-shaped ILM was peeled off, leaving a 400-μm diameter ILM over foveola with a sharp margin in FN group.
RESULTS: Macular hole was developed in 2 of the 7 eyes (28.6%) in the TP group and none in the FN group. Long-term central fovea thickness thinning and decrease of vision were found in the TP group, but not in the FN group (P < 0.05). Inner segment/outer segment line recovered in 75% of the 12 eyes in the FN group, but in only 14.3% of the 7 eyes in the TP group.
CONCLUSION: Preservation of the foveolar cone by foveola nonpeeling surgery correlates with better anatomical and visual results than total peel, prevents long-term foveolar retinal thinning, and successfully saves the fovea from macular hole formation.