Idiopathic macular holes – A review of current management strategies

Macular holes (MHs) are retinal defects which involve the center of the anatomical fovea.[1,2] Severity may range from asymptomatic incidentally discovered MHs, to advanced vision-threatening ones.[2,3] MHs are often described according to the extent of retinal layers involvement. Full-thickness MHs (FTMHs) encompass all the layers of the retina from the internal limiting membrane (ILM) to the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) [Figure 1].[2] Partialthickness MHs, also termed lamellar holes, involve only the inner retinal layers, while the photoreceptors layer may remain intact [Figure 2].[2,3] Although the majority of cases are idiopathic (>85%), MHs may also be secondary to various conditions, among the most common of which are high myopia and ocular trauma.[2,4,5] Kumawat et al. described in detail other infrequent causes of secondary MHs.[5]