Abstract
Purpose::
To examine membrane peels in management of epiretinal membranes and to see what factors affect final visual acuity.
Methods::
Optical coherence tomography and visual acuity scores were examined in a retrospective look at 77 patients who received a membrane peel and vitrectomy for treatment of their epiretinal membranes. The preoperative data was compared to the postoperative data with a mean of 12 months follow up (range: 2 to 29 months)
Results::
Surgery resulted in a decrease in macular thickness in 70 patients (91%). The preoperative mean for all patients decreased from 419 ± 74 microms (range: 367 to 646) to 285 ± 60 (range: 164 to 386) microms after surgery. Visual acuity increased from a mean of 20/70 (range: 20/30 to 20/400) to a mean of 20/60 (range: 20/20 to CF) postoperatively. Of the 77 patients, 49 (63.6%) had an increase in their visual acuity (average gain of 2.8 lines), while 22 (28.6%) had a decrease in visual acuity (average loss of 3.3 lines). Six patients (7.8%) had no change in visual acuity.
Conclusions::
Vitrectomy and membrane peels are effective in reducing macular edema. There appears to be some correlation between macular edema and final visual acuity. Further study of factors that affect visual acuity needs to be done.
Keywords: vitreoretinal surgery • macula/fovea • retina