Comparative analysis of axial length measurement method for eyes with submacular hemorrhage.

PURPOSE

To identify a method for comparing preoperative axial length (AL) measurements with postoperative AL in submacular hemorrhage (SMH).

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective.

METHODS

This study included 30 patients who underwent vitrectomy for SMH (January 2016-January 2023) with preoperative and postoperative AL data. Preoperative AL was obtained using ultrasonography for the affected eye (aUS-AL) and compared to those measured using optical biometry (OB) for the affected and fellow eyes (aOB-AL and fOB-AL, respectively). Postoperative AL (aPost-AL) was defined as the AL of the affected eye by OB. The absolute differences between the preoperative AL (aUS-AL, aOB-AL, and fOB-AL) and aPost-AL were assessed.

RESULTS

aUS-AL, aOB-AL, and fOB-AL values were 23.50 ± 1.41 mm, 23.32 ± 1.40 mm, and 23.66 ± 1.45 mm, respectively, correlating strongly with aPost-AL (23.54 ± 1.37 mm) (all R > 0.95). fOB-AL exceeded aPost-AL significantly (P = 0.02). In all 30 eyes, absolute differences between preoperative AL and aPost-AL were 0.19 ± 0.18 mm, 0.28 ± 0.32 mm, and 0.21 ± 0.22 mm, respectively, which were not significantly different from each other (all P > 0.05). In nine eyes with SMH height > 1000 μm or unmeasurable, the absolute difference between aOB-AL and aPost-AL (0.42 ± 0.33 mm) exceeded that of aUS-AL and aPost-AL (0.10 ± 0.09 mm) (P = 0.003).

CONCLUSION

Although aUS-AL, aOB-AL, and fOB-AL correlated well with postoperative AL in patients with SMH, fOB-AL may be measured longer and aOB-AL shorter in some cases. Therefore, aUS-AL may be considered primarily in determining IOL power of cataract surgery performed in combination with SMH displacement.