Retinal holes.

Holes of the peripheral retina, defined as full-thickness breaks of trophic origin with no associated flap or free operculum, were found in 136 (2.4%) eyes from 2,800 autopsied subjects. Primary retinal holes (those with no indication of a proximal causative lesion and with no lattice degeneration in either eye) occurred in only eight of the 5,600 eyes studied; all were unilateral, single, less than 0.25 disk diameter in size, within the basal zone, and in eyes from elderly subjects. Secondary holes were found in 128 (2.3%) of eyes and of these, lattice degeneration was the most common cause (103). Other lesions complicated by hole formation included zonular traction tufts (10), chorioretinitis (9), meridional folds (3), and pavingstone degeneration (2). Retinal holes in surgically aphakic eyes did not differ qualitatively or quantitatively from those in age-matched phakic eyes.