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Choroidal thickness change following vitrectomy in idiopathic epiretinal membrane and macular hole

  • Retinal Disorders
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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate changes in choroidal thickness following vitrectomy in eyes with epiretinal membrane (ERM) and macular hole (MH)

Methods

Choroidal thicknesses at the fovea and at 1 and 3 mm superior, inferior, temporal, and nasal to the fovea were measured using enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) before and 1 week, 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after vitrectomy. In 95 eyes with ERM and 56 with MH, the thicknesses were compared between baseline and each postoperative visit. The postoperative thickness changes from baseline were compared between the ERM and MH groups. Clinical factors associated with choroidal thickness change were also evaluated.

Results

All choroidal thicknesses were significantly increased 1 week after vitrectomy compared to baseline in the ERM group (i.e. mean subfoveal choroidal thickness increased from 218 to 233 μm, P < 0.001). In the MH group, the increase was statistically significant only for inferior choroidal thicknesses. Such significant increase in choroidal thicknesses was not observed from 1 month postoperative in both groups. Postoperative SFCT change was significantly associated with combined cataract extraction (P = 0.026) and surgical indication (P = 0.010) at 1 week postoperative and with baseline SFCT at all postoperative visits (all P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Choroidal thickness may temporarily increase following vitrectomy at the early postoperative period and subsequently decrease to the baseline value. Compared to the ERM group, the MH group showed location-dependent choroidal thickness change at early postoperative period, which might be explained by position-dependent tamponading effect of gas.

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Conflicts of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter, or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, #300, Gumi-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, 463-707, Korea

    Seong Joon Ahn, Se Joon Woo & Kyu Hyung Park

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, Korea

    Seong Joon Ahn

Authors
  1. Seong Joon Ahn
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  2. Se Joon Woo
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  3. Kyu Hyung Park
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kyu Hyung Park.

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Supplementary Figure 1

Choroidal thickness before and after vitrectomy for epiretinal membrane (ERM group) and macular hole (MH group) in the subgroup operated (A) with and (B) without combined cataract extraction. (A) The ERM and MH groups show a temporary increase in choroid thickness at 1 week postoperative visit. Data at 12 months were available in 21 and seven eyes for the ERM and MH groups, respectively. (B) Compared to the eyes treated with vitrectomy combined with cataract extraction, those treated with vitrectomy only show less remarkable choroidal thickening at 1 week postoperative visit in the ERM group. Such a temporary increase in choroidal thickness is not observed in the MH group. Data at 12 months were available in 23 and 18 eyes for the ERM and MH groups, respectively. The error bars in the left column denote the upper or lower bound of the 95 % confidence interval. (JPEG 87 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 1134 kb)

Supplementary Figure 2

Subfoveal choroidal thickness following vitrectomy in eyes with epiretinal membrane (ERM) treated with and without internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling. There are no significant differences at any postoperative time between the two groups. (all P > 0.05) The error bars in the left column denote the upper or lower bound of the 95 % confidence interval. (JPEG 43 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 970 kb)

Supplementary Figure 3

Choroidal thickness before and after vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR group) treated by vitrectomy without gas tamponade and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD group) treated by vitrectomy with gas tamponade. The PDR group shows a temporary increase in choroidal thickness at 1 week postoperative visit, whereas such an increase is rarely observed in the RRD group. The error bars in the left column denote the upper or lower bound of the 95 % confidence interval. (JPEG 57 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 736 kb)

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Ahn, S.J., Woo, S.J. & Park, K.H. Choroidal thickness change following vitrectomy in idiopathic epiretinal membrane and macular hole. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 254, 1059–1067 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-015-3154-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-015-3154-4

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