Abstract
Purpose:
To determine whether the width of the retinal artery (RA) trajectory was associated with the formation of macular holes (MHs).
Methods:
This is a retrospective, cross sectional, case-control study comprised 55 patients of MH in a single academic hospital. Participants are consecutive patients with a unilateral MH and healthy fellow eyes. The RA trajectory was calculated by a mathematical model. The coordinates of the best fit curve of the RA trajectory were determined automatically based upon these plots using the ImageJ program. The converted coordinates were fit to a second degree polynomial (ax2/100 + bx + c) equation. The constant ‘a’ is related to the width and steepness of the curve and was used as a measure of the RA trajectory. Main outcome measures are the width and steepness of the RA trajectory, “a”, of the eye with a MH eye was compared to that of the fellow eye.
Results:
The constant ‘a’ was significantly smaller in eyes with a MH than that of the fellow eyes (0.379 ± 0.094 vs 0.416 ± 0.121, P = 0.001, paired t test), indicating that the RA trajectory was wider in the MH eyes than in the fellow eyes. There was a significant correlation between the axial length and RA trajectory in the MH eyes (R = 0.273, P = 0.044) and in the fellow eyes (R = 0.356, P = 0.008; Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient).
Conclusions:
Because eyes with a MH have a significantly wider and flatter RA trajectory, there is probably a greater traction on the fovea which is located between the RA arches with fragile macula. These may ultimately cause a MH to develop.