Clinical Outcomes of Pseudophakic Patients Undergoing Epiretinal Membrane Peel From a Large Multicenter Database

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

6-2025

Publication Title

Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science

Abstract

Purpose : To assess baseline demographics, visual acuity (VA) outcomes, and post-operative complication rates among pseudophakic patients following epiretinal membrane removal.

Methods : This is a retrospective multicenter database study of pseudophakic patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy with epiretinal membrane peel from 2016 to 2023. Data on 8,032 epiretinal membrane removal procedures performed by 103 vitreoretinal surgeons across 57 practices within the EyeCare Partners network were collected from a large integrated electronic medical record database.

Results : Of 11,506 patients who underwent ERM peeling, 8,032 (69.8%) were pseudophakic and included in the study. The median age of the study cohort was 70.0 years (range 9 – 98), and 4,014 (49.98%) were female and 4,018 (50.02%) were male. The median preoperative VA was 0.4 logMAR (Snellen equivalent 20/50, IQR 0.30 (20/40) to 0.54 (20/70)). The median follow-up interval was 2.1 years (IQR 0.53 to 3.54 years). Median postoperative VA at 3 months, 1 year, and final follow-up was 0.4 (IQR 0.17 to 0.6), 0.3 (IQR 0.1 to 0.54), and 0.3 (IQR 0.1 to 0.54) logMAR, respectively. The mean and median improvement in VA was 0.12 logMAR. Subgroup analysis revealed that 30.4% of patients with a median pre-operative VA of 0.6 logMAR (Snellen equivalent 20/80) experienced a successful outcome (defined as >0.3 logMAR improvement in VA). Patients with a final VA of 20/20 had a median pre-operative VA of 0.3 logMAR(Snellen equivalent 20/40). Post-operative endophthalmitis (within 3 months of surgery), retinal detachment, macular hole, or recurrent ERM formation requiring re-intervention within 1 year occurred at rates of 0.2 %, 1.4 %, 0.3 %, and 0.4 %, respectively.

Conclusions : This study, to our knowledge, is the largest case series investigating the clinical outcomes and characteristics of pseudophakic patients undergoing ERM peel. Notably, 30.4% of eyes had a successful outcome, gaining >0.30 logMAR units. The most significant improvement in VA was observed in eyes with VA worse than 0.6 logMAR, while patients with better initial VA had better final VA. The post-operative complication rates seen in this study were consistent with the literature, underscoring the reliability of our findings.

Volume

66

Issue

8

First Page

256

Comments

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology ARVO Annual Meeting, May 4-8, 2025, Salt Lake City, UT

Last Page

256

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