title: Long-term anatomical and functional results in patients undergoing observation for idiopathic nontractional epiretinal membrane.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the anatomical and functional course without surgical intervention in patients with nontractional epiretinal membrane (ERM) using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in a long-term follow-up of 38.2 ± 30.6 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 58 patients with nontractional ERM, which was defined as a tear or rip of the ERM in at least one line of OCT scan. All patients were observed without any surgical intervention. All patients underwent ophthalmologic examination, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measurement, funduscopy, and SD-OCT. Routine follow-up visits were performed every 6 months or earlier at the discretion of the investigator.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no statistically significant difference in BCVA or central foveal thickness (CFT) at all time points of the follow-up. About 84.4% of patients presented improvement or stabilization in BCVA at the end of the follow-up, while 53.4% of patients had a decrease in CFT. All patients had intact ellipsoid zone and none of them needed surgical intervention at the end of the follow-up of 38.2 ± 30.6 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with nontractional ERM, BCVA and CFT may remain stable in a long-term follow-up. Therefore, if ellipsoid zone is intact and there is a tear or rip of ERM in at least one OCT scan, patients can be monitored and surgery may be deferred because of high percentage of structural and functional stability.
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Attikon University Hospital, Athens - Greece.
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rouvas
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Attikon University Hospital, Athens - Greece.
authors.forename: Irini
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chatziralli
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Attikon University Hospital, Athens - Greece.
authors.forename: Aggeliki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Androu
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Attikon University Hospital, Athens - Greece.
authors.forename: Sotirios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papakonstantinou
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Attikon University Hospital, Athens - Greece.
authors.forename: Maria S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kouvari
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Attikon University Hospital, Athens - Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alonistiotis
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Attikon University Hospital, Athens - Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Theodossiadis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019773:Epiretinal Membrane / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology