Outcomes of macular buckling with a T-shaped buckle for myopic tractional maculopathies associated with posterior staphyloma: An Indian experience

Purpose: To report the anatomic and visual outcomes following macular buckling in patients affected by pathological myopia-associated foveoschisis (FS) and macular detachment with or without macular hole (MH). Methods: A retrospective interventional consecutive case series wherein 25 highly myopic eyes (mean axial length 28.46 mm; range, 25-33.8 mm) of 24 patients (16 females and 8 males; mean age 54.1 years; range, 35-74 years) presenting with macular detachment associated with a posterior staphyloma (PS), who underwent macular buckling, were evaluated. Patients with absence or reduction in subretinal fluid by more than 90% during the final follow-up along with inversion of contour of staphyloma were considered to have a successful anatomical outcome and those with improvement or maintenance in visual acuity were considered to have a successful functional outcome. The mean duration of follow-up was 11.2 months. Results: At the time of initial presentation, the mean age of the 24 patients was 54.1 ± 10.28 years. Macular detachment along with FS was present in all cases, whereas full-thickness macular hole-related retinal detachment was present in nine cases. Swept-source optical coherence tomography parameters showed reduction of FS with foveal reattachment in all eyes except one at last visit. Mean axial length decreased from 28.5 mm preoperatively (range 26-33.8 mm) to 26.2 mm (range 24-29.3 mm). The mean best-corrected visual acuity changed from 1.16 log MAR to 1.096 Log MAR (P = 0.165). Visual acuity improved in 10 eyes (40%), remained stable in 11 eyes (44%) and decreased in 4 eyes (16%). Conclusion: Macular buckling is a good surgical technique with encouraging anatomic and visual outcomes in patients with myopic macular detachment associated with PS. Highly selective cases of myopic traction maculopathy can have a viable option of macular buckle surgery in stabilizing the retinal tractional changes, and thereby, vision loss.