Prospective randomized trial: outcomes of SF6 versus C3F8 in macular hole surgery

Abstract Objective To compare macular hole (MH) closure and visual acuity improvement after vitrectomy using SF 6 versus C 3 F 8 gas tamponade. The secondary purposes were to report the cumulative incidence of cataract development at 1 year after MH surgery and the proportion of complications. Design Prospective, randomized study. Participants Thirty-one patients were prospectively randomized to the SF 6 group and 28 patients to the C 3 F 8 group. Methods Preoperative data included MH minimum diameter, Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), cataract staging, and intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement. Postoperative data included optical coherence tomography confirmation of the closure at 6 weeks and 1 year, and ETDRS BCVA and cataract development/extraction, both 1 year after the MH surgery. Results Primary MH closure was achieved in 93.3% in the SF 6 group and 92.9% in the C 3 F 8 group. Mean ETDRS BCVA improved by 17.7 letters in the SF 6 and 16.9 letters in the C 3 F 8 group. The difference in cumulative incidence of cataract development and extraction between both groups was not statistically significant. Regardless of the dye used, similar results were achieved. Finally, the proportion of adverse events was similar in both groups. Conclusions MH surgery with SF 6 gas achieves results similar to C 3 F 8 in terms of visual acuity improvement, MH closure, cataract development/extraction, and adverse events.