Surgical Outcome after Lamellar Macular Hole Associated with Epiretinal Membrane

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate functional and anatomical outcomes after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) in patients with epiretinal membrane associated with lamellar hole (LH).

Patients and methods: All patients who underwent PPV with epiretinal membrane peeling associated with an LH from January 2016 to December 2017 were included. Each patient received a complete ophthalmological examination including best-corrected visual acuity using Snellen charts (in decimal form; converted to logMAR) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) before surgery as well as 3 months after surgery. In all patients, the contour of the LH was postoperatively graded using SD-OCT images.

Results: A total of 36 consecutive patients (36 eyes) with LH associated with epiretinal membrane were reviewed. Most of the patients had normalization or at least an improvement of the LH contour postoperatively (p < 0.001). Median logMAR improved significantly after surgery from 0.3 to 0.2 (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: PPV with epiretinal membrane peeling in symptomatic patients with LH caused by epiretinal membrane is a safe treatment with favorable functional and anatomical short-term outcomes.

Keywords: Epiretinal membrane; Lamellar hole; Pars plana vitrectomy.