Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate the role of a preoperative optical coherence tomography (OCT) and multifocal electroretinogram and their predictive values for the visual outcome after idiopathic epiretinal membrane surgery.
Methods: :
Clinical records of 65 patients (65 eyes) with idiopathic epiretinal membrane who underwent vitrectomy between January 2005 and May 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. Best corrected visual acuity at baseline and 1, 3, 6 months after surgery were assessed. Multifocal ERG responses (P1 amplitude and implicit time) of central 5°macula and foveal thickness using OCT were evaluated before the surgery. Correlations between pre/postoperative BCVA and foveal thickness, mfERG responses were analyzed.
Results: :
BCVA improved from 0.436 ± 0.275 to 0.707 ± 0.288 at 6 months after surgery (P < 0.001, paired t-test). 48 eyes of 68 (74%) achieved improved BCVA more than 2 Snellen lines from the preoperative to the final post operative examination. Preoperative foveal thickness was significantly correlated with the postoperative BCVA. (r= -0.452, p<0.001, Pearson correlation) P1 implicit time was associated with the central foveal thickness and preoperative BCVA, and marginally associated with the postoperative BCVA. (r=-0.263, p=0.059, Pearson correlation) P1 amplitude was not correlated with both functional and anatomical outcomes.
Conclusions: :
Preoperative foveal thickness using OCT may have prognostic value for postoperative visual outcome in eyes with idiopathic epiretinal membrane, while mfERG has limited prognostic value for visual outcome.
Keywords: macula/fovea • vitreoretinal surgery • visual acuity