Retinal vascular changes after vitrectomy for idiopathic epiretinal membrane: a pilot study with dynamic vessel analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate, using the Dynamic Vessel Analyzer (DVA), the retinal vascular changes that may occur after vitrectomy for idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM).


METHODS
Twenty-six eyes of 13 patients affected by unilateral idiopathic ERM were prospectively analyzed. 13 fellow eyes were used as control. The static (central retinal artery and vein equivalents) and dynamic (after flicker light stimulus) DVA analysis was performed at baseline (1 day before surgery) and 6 months after vitrectomy.


RESULTS
The static DVA analysis did not highlight any significant change between investigational eyes and controls at baseline and 6 months after surgery. The DVA dynamic analysis showed similar arterial flicker response between cases and controls at baseline (p = 0.3396), but disclosed a significant reduction of the arterial flicker response after surgery in the study eyes compared to fellow eyes (p = 0.0024). No significant changes were appreciated in the venous flicker response after surgery between cases and controls, both at baseline (p = 0.3450) and at the follow-up examination (p = 0.4214).


CONCLUSIONS
The physiological flicker-induced vasoconstriction is reduced after vitrectomy in arteries. The oxygen saturation change occurring after vitrectomy might have a role in the vascular tone modification.
Department of Ophthalmology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute University, Via Olgettina, 60 - 20132, Milan, Italy.
Lorenzo
L
Iuliano
Department of Ophthalmology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute University, Via Olgettina, 60 - 20132, Milan, Italy.
Giovanni
G
Fogliato
Department of Ophthalmology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute University, Via Olgettina, 60 - 20132, Milan, Italy. querques.giuseppe@hsr.it.
Giuseppe
G
Querques
Department of Ophthalmology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute University, Via Olgettina, 60 - 20132, Milan, Italy.
Francesco
F
Bandello
Department of Ophthalmology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute University, Via Olgettina, 60 - 20132, Milan, Italy.
Marco
M
Codenotti
D000368:Aged; D018450:Disease Progression; D019773:Epiretinal Membrane / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014821:Vitrectomy
Dynamic vessel analysis; Epiretinal membrane; Oxygen tension; Retinal vessels; Vitrectomy