Title

CORRELATION BETWEEN RETINAL SENSITIVITY ASSESSED BY MICROPERIMETRY AND THE FULL-THICKNESS AND GANGLION CELL COMPLEX THICKNESS MEASUREMENTS AFTER INTERNAL LIMITING MEMBRANE PEELING IN EYES WITH IDIOPATHIC EPIRETINAL MEMBRANE

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to verify the correlation between the retinal sensitivity assessed by microperimetry and the full-thickness and the ganglion cell complex (GCC) macular thickness measurements by swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) in eyes submitted to posterior vitrectomy with concomitant internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling for epiretinal membrane (ERM) treatment.

Methods

Fifteen-eyes of 15 patients were included. For the control group, the contralateral eye, with no ocular disease, were included (10 eyes). Full-thickness and GCC measurements, divided in 9 sectors were assessed. Retinal sensitivity of corresponding macular (9 sectors) were assessed by microperimetry (MP3, Nidek) 6 months after the surgery. Pars plana posterior vitrectomy with removal of the ERM and concomitant peeling of the ILM was performed in all cases. Inter-ocular parameters comparisons were performed using paired T-test. Correlations between BCVA, MP3 retinal sensitivity and OCT parameters were analyzed using Spearman rank correlation (P<0.05).

Results

15 patients, 8 women, with a mean age of 72.07 years were included. The mean time after surgery was 11.87 months. All OCT parameters in 9 sectors, for both full-macular and GCC thickness, were significantly reduced after surgery (P<0.01). Retinal sensitivity values obtained by MP3 were significantly lower in affected eyes 6 months after surgery in 5 out of 9 sectors when compared to control eyes. The MP3 retinal sensitivity correlated negatively with OCT thickness measurements before the surgery and positively after the surgery. The average GCC thickness measurements showed the higher correlations with the MP3 retinal sensitivity parameters, both before and after surgery.

Discussion

The MP3 retinal sensitivity parameters correlates better with OCT parameters when compared to the BVCA, specially for the GCC layer thickness measurements. The inner retinal integrity plays an important role to the visual function after ERM surgery.

Keywords

Epiretinal membrane ; microperimetry; ganglion cell complex, posterior vitrectomy, optical coherence tomography

Area

SURGICAL CASE

Authors

LEONARDO PROVETTI CUNHA, Raphael Lucas Sampaio Defina, Aline Mota Freitas Matos, Luciana Virgínia Ferreira Costa-Cunha, Camila Borelli Zeller, Mário Luiz Ribeiro Monteiro