Central Retinal Thickness and Visual Acuity Outcomes After Vitrectomy for Epiretinal Membrane With and Without Internal Limiting Membrane Peel

Braden A Burckhard; Nathan R Mathews; Michael M Altaweel; Jonathan S Chang; Michael S Ip; Justin L Gottlieb

doi:10.1177/24741264211009505

Central Retinal Thickness and Visual Acuity Outcomes After Vitrectomy for Epiretinal Membrane With and Without Internal Limiting Membrane Peel

J Vitreoretin Dis. 2021 May 6;6(2):122-125. doi: 10.1177/24741264211009505. eCollection 2022 Mar-Apr.

Authors

Braden A Burckhard¹, Nathan R Mathews¹, Michael M Altaweel¹, Jonathan S Chang¹, Michael S Ip², Justin L Gottlieb¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
² Doheny Eye Center, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: This work compares best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) outcome measures following pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with and without internal limiting membrane (ILM) peel for epiretinal membrane (ERM).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of 114 eyes of 114 patients with visually significant ERM undergoing PPV with membrane peel (PPV/MP) at a single institution. CRT measurements were collected from Heidelberg and Zeiss spectral-domain optical coherence tomography imaging units. Results compared preoperative and postoperative CRT and BCVA among patients with at least 60 days of follow-up.

Results: A total of 114 eyes with ERM met the inclusion criteria. Eighty-one eyes (71%) underwent PPV/MP with ILM peel and 33 eyes (29%) underwent PPV/MP without ILM peel. There was no statistically significant difference between preoperative CRT between the 2 study groups (P = .95). The mean follow-up time of eyes undergoing PPV/MP without ILM peel and with ILM peel was 391 days and 319 days, respectively. There was no statistical difference in the mean reduction of CRT between the 2 groups (P = .470). Both groups had improvement of BCVA following surgery and there was no statistical difference in final logMAR visual acuity when comparing the 2 groups (P = .738).

Conclusions: There was an overall improvement of CRT and BCVA among patients undergoing PPV/MP for ERM with or without ILM peel. There was no statistically significant difference in the final BCVA or CRT between the 2 groups.

Keywords: central retinal thickness; epiretinal membrane; internal limiting membrane; macular surgery; membrane peel.