Abstract
Purpose:
To study the impact of the presence of an Epiretinal Membrane (ERM) on the visual acuity and retinal thickness after anti-VEGF therapy in patients with either Central or Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion (CRVO/BRVO).
Methods:
This is a retrospective study of 140 patients with Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO) treated with anti-VEGF therapy. Follow-up included monthly fundus and visual acuity evaluation and quarterly Optical Coherent Tomography (OCT) assessing the presence of a posterior vitreous detachment, an ERM and Macular Retinal thickness. The numbers of intra-vitreal injections as well as their frequency were monitored for each patient.
Results:
In this population of patients with RVO, the patients with an ERM demonstrated a statistically significant improvement of their functional performances after anti-VEGF therapy when compared to patients with no ERM (p< .001). The functional improvement demonstrated in patients with ERM was not related to significant change in the retinal thickness.
Conclusions:
The presence of an ERM seems to impact favorably the functional outcomes in patients treated with anti-VEGF therapy for RVO. The presence of a vitreous detachment in most the patient with ERM may explain the favorable functional outcome.