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To evaluate the efficacy of vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling and SF(6) gas tamponade for macular holes without face-down positioning.Twenty-one eyes of 21 consecutive patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy with indocyanine green-assisted ILM peeling and 20% SF(6) gas tamponade without face-down positioning were included in this study. Biomicroscopy and optical coherence tomography were used to assess macular hole closure. Pre- and postoperative visual acuities (VAs) were compared.Among the 21 eyes, five (23.8%) had stage 2, 11 (52.4%) stage 3, and five (23.8%) stage 4 macular holes. Mean macular hole size was 0.35 disc diameters. The macular holes had been present for an average of 2.3 months. Twenty eyes (95.2%) were phakic, and one (4.8%) was pseudophakic. Nineteen of the 21 holes (90.5%) initially closed. The final closure rate was 100%, and no eyes showed reopening. Preoperative mean VA (logMAR) was 0.65, and mean VA had significantly improved to 0.46 at 1 month and to 0.42 at 3 months after surgery (P0.0001, repeated measures analysis of variance).Vitrectomy with ILM peeling and SF(6) gas tamponade for macular holes without face-down positioning achieved favorable anatomical and functional results.

Results of vitreous surgery alone in patients with diabetic macular edema (Vit group) were compared with results of surgery combined with peeling of the internal limiting membrane (ILM group), and surgery combined with removal of the residual vitreous cortex after its visualization using triamcinolone acetonide (TA) and a postoperative intravitreal TA injection (TA group). Visual acuities after the operation, degree of improvement in visual acuity (VA), and intra- and postoperative complications were evaluated.The study included 141 consecutive patients (168 eyes) who could be followed up for at least 12 months after the operation. The Vit group consisted of 66 eyes, the ILM group of 62 eyes, and the TA group of 40 eyes. Patient background factors, and visual acuities 6 and 12 months after operation were evaluated first, and at the final examination, the degree of improvement in VA, the incidences of intra- and postoperative complications, and the incidence of intraocular pressureor =25 mmHg were studied.Preoperative VA was compared with the 6- and 12-month postoperative VA and the VA at the final examination. The preoperative to 6 months postoperative improvements and those between the 12-month postoperative and final examination did not differ among the three groups. However, the degree of improvement in VA between 6 and 12 months after the operation was significantly smaller in the TA group than in the other two groups. The incidences of intra- and postoperative complications did not differ among the three groups, but the incidence of intraocular pressure/=25 mmHg was slightly higher in the TA group.Surgical results did not differ among the three operative techniques examined in this study.