Topical prostaglandin analogues and development of epiretinal membrane.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether patients with glaucoma and epiretinal membrane (ERM) use a greater proportion of prostaglandin analogues (PA) than a control group of patients with glaucoma without ERM.

METHOD: A retrospective study of cases and controls was conducted in order to determine whether patients with glaucoma and ERM used a greater proportion of PA than a control group of patients with glaucoma without ERM. The diagnosis of de ERM was made by clinical examination and optical coherence tomography.

RESULTS: The mean age of the cases was 77 years (SD: 8.68; 95% CI: 74.3-79.4), compared to the controls with 63 years (SD: 16.6; 95% CI: 70.1-78.5). The cases included 50% (n=26) men and 50% women (n=26), whereas in the controls 25.4% (n=16) of the cases were men and 74.6% (n=47) women. PA treatment was used in 59.6% (n=31) and 60.3% (n=38) of the cases and controls, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in PA use between the 2groups (P=.939).

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, an association between the use of AP and the development of ERM could not be demonstrated.