Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
21st Euretina Congress, 9 - 12 Eylül 2021, ss.1
To study the structural changes in the choroid after idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) surgery via optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) and enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).
Gazi University School of Medicine, Ophthalmology Department, Retina Service.
Changes in the structure of the choroid after ERM surgery were studied in sixty-six eyes of thirty-three patients with unilateral idiopathic epiretinal membrane using optical coherence tomography (OCT) with enhanced depth imaging (EDI) and OCT-angiography (OCT-A). Choroidal vascularity index (CVI), Haller layer/choroidal thickness (H/C) ratio, and choriocapillaris flow density (CF) were used to compare the structural characteristics of the choroid with fellow eyes. OCT and OCT-A measurements were obtained at the baseline and six months after the ERM surgery.
The mean CVI (0.60±0.04) and H / C values (0.69±0.08) of the ERM group at the baseline were higher than the mean CVI (0.58 ± 0.03) and H/C values (0.64 ± 0.09) of the control group (p: 0.009 and p:0.04 respectively), while postoperative mean CVI (0.58±0.03) and H / C values (0.63±0.08) of the ERM group were found to be similar to CVI (0.58 ± 0.03) and H/C values (0.63 ± 0.09) of the fellow eyes. (p: 0.761 and p:0.827 respectively) In addition, CVI and H/C ratio were decreased after surgery in the ERM eyes (p:0.009 and p:0.001, respectively) while no change was found in the fellow eyes between the baseline and postoperative measurements. (p:0.161 and p:0.827, respectively). The mean CF (0.88 ±0.28) of the ERM eyes was lower than the mean CF (1.09 ± 0.07) of the fellow eyes while no difference was found between the mean CF of ERM eyes(1.08 ± 0.1) and fellow eyes (1.11 ± 0.09) at the postoperative measurements. (p:0.001 and p:0.463, respectively). In addition, CF was increased after surgery in the ERM eyes while no difference was found between baseline and postoperative measurements in the fellow eyes. (p:0.041 and p:0.507, respectively)
The CVI and H/C ratio decreases while CF increases following the epiretinal membrane removal in contrast to the fellow eyes. Decreased H/C ratio and increased CF suggest structural changes especially in the small-sized vascular layers of the choroid. Epiretinal membrane appears to alter the hemodynamic properties of the choroid which might be reversible by surgery.