Abstract
Purpose :
To investigate a fluorescein angiographic pattern and its association with visual outcome in idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) removal.
Methods :
This study was nonrandomized, retrospective, comparative, interventional case series. Idiopathic ERM patients with visual acuity of 20/200 to 20/30, intact ellipsoid zone (EZ), and postoperative follow-up of 6 months were included. Fluorescein angiography (FA) was conducted at baseline. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was assessed at baseline and follow-up visits. Baseline FA pattern in macula and changes in visual acuity (VA) and OCT findings after ERM removal were evaluated.
Results :
Of total 46 eyes, 22 eyes (47.8 %) showed hyper-fluorescein of macula in mid-phase FA (Leak group). Their baseline parameters including VA and central macular thickness (CMT) were not different from eyes without leakage (Non-Leak group, n=24), except the inner retinal layer on fovea (IRLF) (11 vs 19, p= 0.004). The Leak group showed the worse VA (logMAR) (0.23 vs 0.12, p = 0.038) and thicker CMT (376.52 vs 316.39 μm, p = 0.007) at 6 months. Logistic regression analysis showed that the baseline FA pattern and VA were associated with final VA ≥ 20/25 (p = 0.028 and p = 0.019, respectively).
Conclusions :
Approximately a half of idiopathic ERM patients showed a leakage of macula in FA. This FA pattern indicated the advanced damage in the inner retinal layers and provided a predictive value for visual prognosis after ERM removal.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.