Estimation of the retinal nerve fibre layer thickness in the papillomacular area of long standing stage IV macular holes.

AIM To compare the thickness of the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) in the papillomacular area of patients with long standing stage IV macular holes with age matched controls, using a scanning laser polarimeter. METHODS The nerve fibre analyser (NFA) was used to measure the mean thickness of the RNFL around the optic nerve head, the thickness values of temporal and nasal 45 degrees sectors and the integral values in 10 patients with macular holes and in 10 age matched controls. RESULTS The mean RNFL thickness around the optic nerve head was 79.71 (SD 15.06) microm in the macular hole group and 75.1 (10.8) microm in the control group (p = 0.44). The mean thickness in the temporal sector was 63.69 (12.08) microm in the macular hole group and 58.65 (8.9) microm in the control group (p = 0.3). The mean ratio between the temporal and nasal sector thickness values was 0.8441 in the macular hole group and 0.7819 in the controls (p = 0.42). CONCLUSIONS There was no significant difference in the thickness of the RNFL in the papillomacular area in the two groups. This suggests that there may be no changes in the thickness of the RNFL in patients with long standing macular holes.