Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate the prognostic factors for visual acuity and appropriate timing of surgery of idiopathic epiretinal macular membrane.
Methods:
Retrospective chart review on 68 eyes of 67 patients who have undergone pars plana vitrectomy for idiopathic epiretinal membrane. Correlations between changes in visual acuities based on the following factors were performed: pre-operative visual acuity (LogMAR 0.2 or lower, 0.3 to 0.5, 0.6 to 0.8, and 0.9 or above), age (below 60, 60 to 69, and above 70 years), central macular thickness (below 400, 400 to 500, and above 500um), and macular characteristics (diffuse retinal thickening type, vitreomacular traction type).
Results:
Improvement in visual acuity was different according to the preoperative visual acuity. Preoperative visual acuity of LogMAR 0.6 to 0.8 had the highest improvement in post-operative visual acuity (2.53 lines), while preoperative visual acuity of LogMAR 0.2 or lower had decrease in post-operative visual acuity (-1.45 lines) (p=0.002). Patients above 70 years old showed better improvement in postoperative visual acuity (p=0.04). There was no significant correlation between macular thickness or characteristics with post-operative visual acuity.
Conclusions:
Patients with moderate decrease in preoperative visual acuity had the most improvement in postoperative visual acuity. And patients with younger age and better visual acuity had worse visual outcome after vitrectomy for idiopathic epiretinal membrane.
Keywords: 762 vitreoretinal surgery