[Surgery for idiopathic macular hole in stage III/IV: is long-acting gas tamponade indispensable?].

In order to test the hypothesis that in stage III/IV idiopathic macular hole surgery, a short-acting gas tamponade with 40% SF6 and postoperative positioning for 7 days is anatomically and functionally as successful as a long-acting gas tamponade with 14% C3F8 and a postoperative positioning for 14 days, 2 consecutive series of eyes operated on with the same technique, excepted for the gas tamponade used, are compared. The anatomical and functional success rates are not statistically different between both groups.