Long-term temporal changes of macular thickness and visual outcome after vitrectomy for idiopathic epiretinal membrane.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the long-term correlation of visual outcome and macular thickness after vitrectomy for idiopathic epiretinal membrane and to identify prognostic factors for good visual outcome.


METHODS
Retrospective, observational case series.


METHODS
We reviewed the records of 52 patients with idiopathic epiretinal membrane who were treated with vitrectomy and could be followed up for more than 12 months. The main outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness at baseline; at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery; and at the final follow-up visit. The correlation between BCVA and central macular thickness was analyzed and the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to obtain cutoff values for visual prognosis.


RESULTS
Most of the changes in BCVA and central macular thickness took place during the first 3 months and reached a plateau at 12 months after surgery. Despite the lack of changes in BCVA after 12 months of follow-up, significant reduction in central macular thickness could still be observed over 12 months after surgery. The final BCVA was correlated significantly with preoperative BCVA and central macular thickness and early postoperative central macular thickness. Among them, the postoperative central macular thickness at 1 month showed the largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.


CONCLUSIONS
Given the removal of the confounding effect of cataract, postoperative follow-up of 12 months may be sufficient to reach the final BCVA after surgery. However, more time is needed to achieve final central macular thickness. Because of the significant correlation between final BCVA and early postoperative central macular thickness, serial optical coherence tomography images in the early postoperative period were needed to predict visual outcome after epiretinal membrane removal.
Kim
Jongshin
J
Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Korea.
Rhee
Kyoung Min
KM
Woo
Se Joon
SJ
Yu
Young Suk
YS
Chung
Hum
H
Park
Kyu Hyung
KH
D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D019773:Epiretinal Membrane / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D014821:Vitrectomy