Imaging Characteristics and Natural History of Macular Pseudo-Folds Mimicking Full-Thickness Postoperative Macular Folds Following Retinal Detachment Repair

Abstract

Background and objectives: Postoperative retinal folds are a rare complication of retinal detachment repair. Folds involving the macula may result in decreased vision, metamorphopsia, and diplopia. There is no consensus on whether symptomatic folds require additional surgery, as both spontaneous regression and permanent vision loss have been described. The authors present three cases of symptomatic macular folds that demonstrated spontaneous resolution and identify key OCT prognostic signs.

Patients and methods: The study presented is a retrospective case series.

Results: Three patients developed symptomatic postoperative macular folds. Despite funduscopic appearances indistinguishable from full-thickness folds, optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging revealed that none of the folds involved the full thickness of the retina. All cases demonstrated spontaneous resolution with evidence of visual improvement within 2 months.

Conclusion: OCT is essential in distinguishing between partial and full-thickness macular folds. The authors propose that partial-thickness folds should be termed "pseudo-folds," which represent a unique entity that has a favorable natural history. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:488-492.].