Long-Term Visual Outcomes in Patients with Idiopathic Epiretinal Membrane Surgery

Abstract

Background and Objective: Our aim was to assess long-term outcomes following surgical repair of idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) with pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and membrane peel (MP). Patients and Methods: A retrospective study evaluated patients with idiopathic ERM who underwent surgical repair at a single academic tertiary center with five to nine years of postoperative follow-up, assessing preoperative characteristics, surgical techniques, best visual acuity (BVA), and optical coherence tomography biomarkers at various time points. Results: The study involved 67 patients (72 eyes) with an average postoperative follow-up of 82.8 ± 18.8 months. Patients with cone outer segment tips integrity at initial presentation and 1-year follow-up and patients with external limiting membrane and ellipsoid zone integrity at 1-year follow-up were noted to have significantly better long-term visual acuity than those without. More than 85% of patients achieved a BVA > 70 seven years after surgical repair. Conclusions: Vitreoretinal surgery for idiopathic ERM resulted in improved anatomical recovery and sustained visual acuity gain over long-term follow-up. [ Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina 2024;55:XX–XX.]