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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Anatomic and functional follow-up of patients with an idiopathic epiretinal membrane and a preserved visual acuity

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Purpose: To determine the anatomic and functional retinal modifications in patients with an idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) and a preserved visual acuity (VA).Methods: Monocentric, prospective study in 24 eyes of 24 patients with an ERM and a VA better than 20/25. Recorded data were best corrected VA on ETDRS scale, retinal anatomic lesions on spectral-domain OCT, retinal sensitivities on microperimetry and macular and foveal thicknesses at 0 and 6 months.Results: At inclusion, mean VA was 84 ± 5 letters, mean macular sensitivity was 14.0 ± 1.4 decibels (dB) and mean foveal sensitivity was 14,4 ± 1,5 dB. Mean macular thickness was 351 ± 34 µm and mean foveal thickness was 348 ± 66 µm. At six months, one patient was operated on ERM. For the other patients, fixation within the 2 central degrees was significantly lower than at baseline (p=0.04) whereas retinal thicknesses and retinal sensitivities were unchanged. At inclusion, no patient had an interruption of the external limiting membrane and only two of them had an interruption of the inner and the outer segments junction. At six months, the retinal status in OCT was similar.Conclusions: Retinal thickening is the first anatomic change on OCT in patients with an ERM. A central fixation loss could be an early sign of retinal impairment in these patients. Microperimetry combined with spectral domain OCT could improve the detection of early anatomic and functional retinal changes in patients with an ERM and a preserved VA.