First clinical case of effective medical treatment of the vitreoretinal traction with recovery of the visual acuity.

This case-report evaluates the effectiveness of the medical treatment on vitreomacular traction through the use of palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), orally administered. Our 69 year-old patient reported a significant eyesight reduction, metamorphopsia and photopsia. He underwent the following investigations, before and after medical treatment: visual acuity evaluation, dilated fundus examination, OCT. The treatment consisted of the administration of two tablets of PEA per day over 7 days. We observed that, while the visual acuity in the right eye was 2/10 compared to the initial 11/10, the dilated fundus examination highlighted a foveal hole. Moreover, the OCT confirmed the presence of a vitreomacular traction due to the incomplete posterior vitreous detachment. At the end of the treatment with PEA, the visual acuity was equal to 8/10 and the OCT showed a disappearance of the hyperreflective streak with recovery of the physiological retinal and foveal profile. The therapy was eventually carried on for 10 more days with a final visual acuity of 10/10. In conclusion, PEA orally administered, beyond a rare possibility of a spontaneous resolution of the vitreomacular traction, probably contributed, by anti inflammatory action, to the vitreolysis and thus to the disappearance of the vitreomacular traction and foveal hole with a subsequent recovery of the eyesight and of the metamorphopsia