Background and objective: To evaluate the retinal morphologic characteristics of patients with macropsia caused by epiretinal membrane (ERM) based on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).
Patients and methods: A cross-sectional, non-interventional study was performed to compare the characteristics of retinal structures in eyes with ERM according to the presence or absence of macropsia. Twenty-six patients with ERM and macropsia were defined as the macropsia group and 26 age-matched patients with ERM without macropsia were the control group. All participants underwent a full ophthalmologic examination and SD-OCT examination. Macropsia was diagnosed and quantified using a double dot chart. The thickness of retinal layers, including the outer nuclear layer (ONL) and inner segment / outer segment / retinal pigment epithelium (IS/OS/RPE) at the central fovea, were measured by electronic calipers of the SD-OCT system. The interocular ratio of each parameter was calculated for each patient and compared between the two groups. The integrity of the external limiting membrane (ELM), IS/OS junction, and cone outer segment tips (COST) line were evaluated.
Results: The thickness of the IS/OS/RPE differed significantly between both eyes in the macropsia group (P < .001), whereas the control group was not significantly different (P = .161). The ONL in the diseased eye was significantly thicker in the macropsia group than in the control group (P = .020), whereas these two groups did not differ significantly in the thickness of ONL in the control eye (P = .860). More patients had a disrupted COST line in the macropsia group (P < .001 for macropsia group, P = .252 for control group). No eye showed disrupted ELM and IS/OS junction, regardless of the presence of macropsia.
Conclusions: Eyes with macropsia showed thicker foveal ONL, IS/OS/RPE, and more frequently disrupted COST lines. This may indicate that the contractile strength of ERM can lead to centralization of photoreceptor cells. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2018;49:656-663.].
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