Surgical repair of an inflammatory macular hole associated with ocular syphilis.

PURPOSE: To describe a case of an inflammatory macular hole associated with ocular syphilis and its successful surgical closure.

OBSERVATIONS: A 55-year-old man presented with count fingers vision and was found to have unilateral ocular syphilis with panuveitis and a foveal subretinal lesion. The inflammation quickly resolved with treatment, but he developed a full-thickness macular hole on day 5. A pars plana vitrectomy with membrane peel and intraocular gas was performed three months later. The macular hole was successfully closed, and the patient's vision improved to 20/200 18 months after repair. Foveal outer retinal atrophy limited final vision improvement.

CONCLUSIONS AND

IMPORTANCE

Ocular syphilis can rarely be associated with inflammatory macular holes. Surgical intervention can offer successful anatomic results; however, final visual outcomes may be limited by retinal scarring or atrophy from the original inflammation.