Research Article - Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology (2021) Volume 5, Issue 3

Correlation between pre and post-operative macular volume and visual acuity following epiretinal membrane surgery

Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between pre and post-operative macular volume and visual acuity (VA) and post-operative visual gain in patients who underwent surgical removal of epiretinal membrane (ERM).

Methods: Retrospective chart review of 62 patients at a single academic eye center was performed. Patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy and membrane peel for visually significant epiretinal membrane were included. Those with any confounding macular pathology were excluded.

Fellow unaffected eyes were used as controls for macular volume comparison. Clinical and surgical data including pre and post-operative visual acuity, presence of metamorphopsia, lens status, pre and post-operative preoperative macular volume measured by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), and surgical procedures were collected and analyzed. The correlation between macular volume and visual acuity as well as post-operative visual gain was calculated.

Results: There was no statistically significant correlation between macular volume and baseline VA, post-operative VA, or visual gain. Patients with at least 2 lines of VA gain had a larger change in macular volume than patients with less than 2 lines gain (p=0.01).

Conclusion: In patients with ERM, macular volume may not be a reliable predictor of baseline or postoperative VA. However, our study suggests that a more favorable outcome of more than 2 lines of VA gained is associated with a higher reduction in macular volume after surgery.

Author(s): Kasen L Culler, Hong-Gam Le, Mathew W Mac Cumber, Manjot K Gill

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