title: A study on change of macular retinal thickness and its relationship with vision before and after operation to idiopathic macular epiretinal membranes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the change of macular retinal thickness and vision before and after 23G minimally invasive vitrectomy to idiopathic macular epiretinal membranes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical data of 40 patients who were confirmed as idiopathic epiretinal membrane and accept vitrectomy combined with internal limiting membrane peeling was retrospectively analyzed. In regular follow-up before and after operation, OCT (optical coherence tomography) inspection was conducted for the best corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure, eye-ground photography, and fundus oculi. In addition, the follow eye which has no relevant ophthalmological disease was treated as the control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The vision greatly improves after operation, and the thickness in central fovea of macula significantly decreases. Postoperative vision shows obvious linear correlation with postoperative thickness in central fovea of macula. The thickness in division 9 of macula sharply decreases after operation, while the retina in central macula and nasal sides significantly thickens compared with normal group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Internal limiting membrane peeling can enhance the vision of patients and improve macula morphology, while the status in central macula and nasal side has not completely recovered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an 710061, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, The First Hospital of Xi'an Xi'an 710002, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an 710061, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: An-Ming
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: Idiopathic macular epiretinal membranes; best corrected visual acuity; internal limiting membrane peeling; macular retinal thickness; minimally invasive vitrectomy