Efficacy of vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane removal for macular edema associated with branch retinal vein occlusion.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the results of vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling to that without ILM peeling for macular edema associated with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).


METHODS
The medical records of 47 eyes of 47 patients with BRVO-associated macular edema were examined. To treat the macular edema, a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) was created, and the ILM was removed in 13 eyes (ILM-removed group), whereas a PVD was created and the ILM was not removed in 34 eyes (ILM-preserved group). The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the optical-coherence-tomography-determined foveal thickness were obtained preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively.


RESULTS
The mean postoperative BCVA was significantly better than the preoperative BCVA in both the ILM-removed and in the ILM-preserved groups (p = 0.0017 and p = 0.0002, respectively). The fovea was significantly thinner at 1 month after surgery in both groups (p = 0.0007 and p < 0.0001, respectively). The postoperative improvement of the mean BCVA and the foveal thickness were not significantly different for the two groups at any postoperative period.


CONCLUSIONS
Because there was no significant difference in the improvement of BCVA between the two groups at 6 months postoperatively, there may be no additional benefit in removing the ILM for BRVO-associated macular edema.
Arai
Miyuki
M
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
Yamamoto
Shuichi
S
Mitamura
Yoshinori
Y
Sato
Eiju
E
Sugawara
Takeshi
T
Mizunoya
Satoshi
S
D000368:Aged; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013812:Therapeutics; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014821:Vitrectomy / Q000379:methods*