Abstract
Purpose::
To quantify the changes in metamorphosia and retinal contraction in eyes with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) before and after a spontaneous separation of ERM.
Methods::
Subjects were 6 eyes of 6 patients who experienced a spontaneous separation of ERM during the follow-up period. Changes in horizontal and vertical metamorphosia were assessed by M-CHARTSTM (Inami Co., Tokyo, Japan) and the horizontal and vertical metamorphosia scores were obtained. Changes in retinal contraction were evaluated horizontally and vertically by our original software for fundus image analysis. (WellSystem Inc., Tokyo, Japan). Retinal thickness was measured by Stratus OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Dublin, CA).
Results::
All 6 patients showed decreases in the retinal contraction. Among them, three also showed improvements in their visual acuity and metamorphosia scores. Other two patients, who were not detected with metamorphosia by M-CHARTSTM before and after the spontaneous separation of ERM, only showed an increase in the visual acuity. The remaining one patient improved in the metamorphosia scores, but her visual acuity stayed unchanged. In patients with an improvement in the vertical metamorphosia score, their horizontal retinal movement was seen larger than the vertical one. Similarly, patients with an improvement in the horizontal metamorphosia score had shown a larger retinal movement vertically than horizontally.
Conclusions::
Horizontal metamorphosia was affected by the vertical retinal contraction and vertical metamorphosia was affected by the horizontal retinal contraction before and after a spontaneous separation of ERM.
Keywords: macula/fovea • visual development • retinal adhesion