PURPOSE: To describe the subfoveal deposits secondary to
idiopathic epiretinal membranes (ERMs) and to assess their effect on the preoperative and postoperative course. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational case series. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred patients operated on consecutively for
idiopathic ERMs in a single center. METHODS: The files of 100 consecutive patients operated on for
idiopathic ERMs were reviewed by 2 independent investigators. Fellow
eyes were used as matched controls. Patients with an ERM in the
contralateral eye were excluded, as well as those with no available fundus photographs or
optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans. In all, 87
eyes were included in the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison of subfoveal deposit
frequency in
eyes with an ERM and their fellow
eyes, as shown by Stratus OCT scans and fundus photographs, and preoperative and postoperative best-corrected
visual acuity (VA) in
eyes with an ERM. RESULTS: A subfoveal deposit was found on both preoperative fundus photographs and OCT scans in 15
eyes with an ERM (17.2%) versus 5 (5.7%) in control fellow
eyes (P = 0.0303). The group of patients with a subfoveal deposit was 5.3 years older, on
average, than the group without (P = 0.0206). Time of onset of ERMs and macular thickness were not different between the 2 groups (P = 0.5663 and P = 0.7488, respectively). There was no significant difference regarding
gender ratio or
mean preoperative and postoperative VA (P = 0.9498 and P = 0.9902, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In this series, subfoveal deposits seemed to be associated with the presence of ERMs. Interestingly, they did not preclude good postoperative VA. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
