Visual function assessment and metamorphopsia after macular hole surgery.

The purpose of this study was to develop a new resolution acuity measure for patients after macular hole surgery. Fifty eyes of 44 patients who had undergone successful treatment were tested. Visual acuity was measured with the Snellen, Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study and Landolt-C charts. A Line Resolution Test was performed as part of their follow-up exam where a vertical line was presented. Participants were categorized by their perception of the line as solid, bent or broken. The line could be distorted into a sine-wave pattern in order to determine the participants' detection threshold for the distortion. Chart acuities did not differ among the three groups, as categorized by their line perception. Only the distortion measure was sensitive enough to differentiate the solid- from the broken-line group. The distortion measure assesses resolution power of the macula in smaller increments than acuity charts. This hyperacuity approach is more appropriate in the assessment of functional outcome after microsurgery.