CHARACTERIZATION OF EPIRETINAL MEMBRANES USING OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

Objective: To evaluate optical coherence tomography (OCT)la novel nonc ontact and noninvasive imaging technique, for the diagnosis and quanti tative characterization of epiretinal membranes. Methods: Optical cohe rence tomography is similar to an ultrasound B-scan, except that light rather than sound is used, which enables higher resolution, Over a 2- year period, OCT was used to examine 186 eyes of 160 patients who had a diagnosis of an epiretinal membrane, Optical coherence tomograms wer e correlated with visual acuity, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, fluorescein angiography, and fundus photography, Results: Based on OCT, the epiret inal membrane was clearly separated from the retina with focal points of attachment in 49 eyes and globally adherent (no observed separation ) in 125 eyes. Globally adherent membranes were associated with the fo llowing features: macular pseudohole (32 eyes), a difference in optica l reflectivity between the membrane and retina (65 eyes), and/or a vis ible membrane left: or edge (92 eyes). The membrane was undetectable o n OCT in 12 eyes, The membrane thickness (mean +/- standard deviation) was 61 +/- 28 mu m in the 169 eyes in which the thickness could be me asured with OCT, Mean central macular thickness measured with OCT corr elated with visual acuity (R(2) = 0.73), Conclusion: Optical coherence tomography was able to provide a structural assessment of the macula that was useful in the preoperative and postoperative evaluation of ep iretinal membrane surgery, Quantitative measurements and the assessmen t oi membrane adherence with OCT may be useful in characterizing the s urgical prognosis of eyes with an epiretinal membrane.