Purpose To evaluate whether the presence of dome-shaped macula (DSM) is a protective factor for visual acuity after cataract surgery in patients with high myopia.

Methods Included were 891 highly myopic cataract eyes (600 patients) that were examined by optical coherence tomography (OCT) through the central fovea and underwent cataract surgery in our hospital. DSM was defined as an inward bulge >50 µm in horizontal or vertical OCT sections. The incidences of various maculopathies were compared between eyes with and those without DSM. The influences of age, sex, eye laterality, axial length and DSM on postoperative visual acuity were evaluated by multivariate linear regression.

Results Of the 891 eyes, 123 (13.8%) had DSM. There was a greater association of DSM with extrafoveal retinoschisis (RS) than with other vision-threatening complications such as foveal RS and choroidal neovascularisation. In addition to axial length and age, sex was associated with the presence of DSM (p=0.016). In bilateral high myopia, the incidence of DSM increased with the degree of anisometropia and was more common in the longer eye of patients with anisometropia. Younger age, male sex, shorter axial length and the presence of DSM were associated with better postoperative visual acuity in highly myopic cataract eyes (β=0.124, p=0.002; β=0.142, p<0.001; β=0.275, p<0.001 and β=−0.088, p=0.038, respectively).

Conclusion Associated with fewer visual threatening macular complications, presence of DSM may be a protective factor for visual function after cataract surgery in highly myopic eyes.