Macular buckling in high myopia

[caption id="attachment_9377" align="alignright" width="1024"] Dr Micol Alkabes, of the Ospedale Maggiore Della Carità in Novara, Italy[/caption] Dr Micol Alkabes, of the Ospedale Maggiore Della Carità in Novara, Italy, addressed delegates at the 17th Annual EURETINA Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on “Macular Buckling in High Myopia: The State of the Art”. Her presentation covered a technique that frightens many vitreoretinal surgeons, due to the technical difficult of the procedure and the rarity with which it is performed. “I don’t want to pretend that I’ll make you fall in love with macular buckling in highly myopic eyes after one short presentation,” said Dr Alkabes. Rather, Dr Alkabes aimed to summarise the literature to date, and to demonstrate that this technique has specific indications for which it might be the best surgical option. These indications include macular hole retinal detachments; macular foveoschisis with or without foveal detachment; and myopic macular hole with macular foveoschisis. Regarding macular hole retinal detachments, Dr Alkabes stressed that while closure of the macular hole is essential when treated with only vitrectomy, hole closure is not necessary for resolution of the retinal detachment if the macula is supported by a macular buckle. In cases of macular foveoschisis, macular buckling significantly reduced the need for second surgery due to persistent foveoschisis. And Dr Alkabes reminded delegates that untreated macular hole with macular foveoschisis often tends to progress to macular hole retinal detachment. Dr Alkabes allayed fears of the technique by pointing out that major complications such as choroidal effusion and scleral perforation are in fact rarely encountered.