Visual and Anatomical Outcomes Following Idiopathic Macular Epiretinal Membrane Surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the visual and anatomical outcomes following idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane (IERM) surgery.

STUDY DESIGN: Case series.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Layton Rehmatulla Benevolent Trust (L.R.B.T), Free Base Eye Hospital, Karachi, from January 2015 to June 2016.

METHODOLOGY: Thirty eyes of thirty patients affected with idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane stage 2 were enrolled in this study. They subsequently underwent 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with epiretinal membrane removal without internal limiting membrane peeling. The visual outcome was measured as improvement in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of at least two or more lines on ETDRS chart as compared to preoperative BCVA. The anatomical outcome was measured as decrease in foveal thickness on Spectral Domain-Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT). Patients were followed for a period of 06 months.

RESULTS: At the end of follow-ups, 23 (76%) eyes out of 30 gained 2 or more lines of vision. In 05 (16%) eyes, BCVA remained same and only 02 (6.6%) eyes showed worsening of vision. Mean preoperative foveal thickness was 392 ±20 µm, whereas mean postoperative thickness was 305 ±16 µm with an average decrease of 87 µm, in foveal thickness. Recurrence of ERM was found to be the most frequent complication.

CONCLUSION: IERM surgery is a safe procedure and beneficial in achieving significant visual acuity improvement and anatomical recovery in the majority of cases.