Abstract： Objective To evaluate and compare the prognosis of idiopathic macular holes (IMH) and traumatic macular holes (TMH) treated by pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). Methods The clinical data of 72 IMH eyes and 55 TMH eyes, which were treated by PPV between November 2001 and December 2007,were retrospectively reviewed. The visual outcomes and macular anatomic closure were evaluated, and their relationships with prognostic factors including the size of macular hole (MH), preoperative visual acuity (VA) and duration of disease were analyzed. Results The closure rate of IMH (100. 0%) was significant higher than that of TMH (85.5%) (P=0. 001). The postoperative VA of IMH and TMH were (0. 25±0.02) and (0. 21±0. 21) respectively, both significantly increased compare to their preoperative VA (t=-6. 841, -4. 093; P=0.000). VA-increased IMH and TMH eyes had same VA (χ2=3. 651, P=0.07).Pre-PPV VA≥0. 1 IMH eyes had better outcomes than Pre-PPV VA＜0. 1 IMH eyes (χ2 = 12.04, P=0. 001), while Pre-PPV VA had no effects on TMH outcomes (χ2=0. 371, P=0. 486). IMH eyes with small holes had better outcomes (t=2. 476, P=0. 016), and TMH eyes with small holes had better closure (t= -4. 042, P＜0. 001). The duration of disease had no significant influence on TMH visual (χ2=0. 704,P = 0. 401 ) and anatomic (χ2 = 0. 166, P= 0. 684) outcomes. Conclusions PPV is an effective treatment for MH. The closure rate of IMH is higher than that of TMH. The diameter of MH and preoperative VA are major factors for IMH outcomes, and the duration of disease and preoperative VA have no effects on postoperative VA in TMH.