Abstract
Purpose :
To examine the relationship between retinal layer thickness and visual function in patients undergoing idiopathic epiretinal membrane surgery at 1,3 and 6 months of follow up using spectral domain optical coherence tomography automated segmentation algorithm.
Methods :
Twenty-one eyes of 21 patients underwent vitrectomy with removal of the epiretinal membrane and internal limiting membrane peeling were enrolled.
Ophthalmic evaluations included best-corrected visual acuity and measurements of 4 retinal layer thicknesses including inner retina, inner nuclear layer, outer plexiform layer and outer nuclear layer by means spectral domain optical coherence tomography automated segmentation algorithm. Relations between retinal layer thickness and best-corrected visual acuity values were
explored during 6 months of follow-up.
Results :
Best-corrected visual acuity (P , 0.001) values were increased, while almost all retinal layer thickness values were decreased over the follow-up period.The improvement of the post-operative best-corrected visual acuity values were correlated with the thinning of all quadrants of the inner retina (P 0,002-0,008), of the central (P<0.001), inferior (P 0.002) and temporal (P 0.004) quadrants of the inner nuclear layer and finally with all quadrants of the outer plexiform layer (P<0.001-0.0014). Best-corrected visual acuity values were not statistically significantly correlated with the thinning of all quadrants of the outer nuclear layer.
Conclusions :
We found a meaningful correlation between best-corrected visual acuity values and inner retina, inner nuclear layer and outer plexiform layer thickness. These findings showed which intraretinal layers thinning mainly contributes to visual acuity recover during the post-operative follow-up period.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.