Purpose: To determine the characteristics and appearance rate of epiretinal proliferation (ERP) on SD-OCT after surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair.
Methods: One hundred eight eyes of 108 patients who underwent one or more surgeries for RRD were enrolled. The eyes with other maculopathies that were directly related to RRD were excluded. Image acquisition was performed with SD-OCT (Heidelberg Engineering, Germany). Clinical charts were reviewed to assess clinical and surgical findings. Statistical analyses were performed using XLSTAT (Assinsoft, Paris, France).
Results: ERP was found in 9.3% eyes (n = 10). The mean initial visual acuity (logMAR) was 1.34 ± 0.82 in the ERP group compared to 0.49 ± 0.70 in the non-ERP group. PVR was present in 70.0% and chronic macular edema was found in 80.0% of eyes which developed ERP. The mean number of vitreoretinal surgeries in eyes with ERP was 3.3 ± 1.19 and only 1.44 ± 1.02 in eyes without. Silicone oil was used in 60.0% of eyes which developed ERP compared to 13.9% in the non-ERP group.
Conclusion: ERP is a late-onset postoperative finding in eyes with RRD and can occur in absence of macular holes. Overall, ERP is more frequent in eyes with complicated courses of RRD including multiple operations, PVR, usage of silicone oil, and chronic macular edema.
Keywords: Epiretinal membrane; Epiretinal proliferation; Macula; Müller cells; Postoperative complication; Proliferative vitreoretinopathy; Retina; Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment; Surgical retina; Vitrectomy.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.