Purpose: To report two patients who developed full-thickness macular holes following panretinal photocoagulation for proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
Methods: Case series.
Results: Case 1 was a 58-year-old woman with Type 1 diabetes mellitus and proliferative diabetic retinopathy and Case 2, a 72-year-old man with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Before panretinal photocoagulation, each patient had an epiretinal membrane and an irregular foveal contour noted on optical coherence tomography. At 2 months follow-up, each patient showed foveal floor thinning and Case 2 also had a lamellar macular hole. At 6 months follow-up, each patient had a full-thickness macular hole. Each were successfully repaired with vitrectomy, membrane peeling, and gas tamponade.
Conclusion: The relationship between hole formation and previous panretinal photocoagulation in the patients reported here is unclear and possibly coincidental.