Macular microcirculation in patients with epiretinal membrane before and after surgery

To investigate blood flow velocity (BFV) in the perifoveal capillaries before and after vitreous surgery for patients with epiretinal membrane (ERM). Twenty-one eyes in patients with ERM and 16 eyes in healthy subjects were involved in this study. Fluorescein angiography was performed using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope and BFV was analyzed by the tracing method. Foveal thickness (FT) was measured by optical coherence tomography. BFV was significantly slower in the ERM patients (1.04 +/- 0.10 mm/s) than in the healthy subjects (1.49 +/- 0.11 mm/s ) ( = 0.0010). BFV in the ERM patients 6 months after vitreous surgery (6 M) (1.21 +/- 0.02 mm/s) significantly increased compared with BFV before surgery (0 M) (1.04 +/- 0.10 mm/s) ( = 0.0061). BFV 1 year after vitreous surgery (1 Y) significantly increased (1.38 +/- 0.02 mm/s) compared with BFV(6 M) (1.21 +/- 0.02 mm/s) ( = 0.0235). FT was significantly greater in the ERM patients (351.7 +/- 87.1 mu m) than in the healthy subjects (158.9 +/- 16.9 mu m) ( = 0.0011). FT (6 M) significantly decreased (285.3 +/- 36.9 mu m) compared with FT before surgery (0 M) (351.7 +/- 87.1 mu m) ( = 0.0212). FT did not show significant differences between (6 M) and (1 Y). No significant correlation was found between BFV and FT before surgery. Perifoveal capillary BFV in patients with ERM was slower than that in the healthy subjects, and significantly improved after vitreous surgery as time progressed. It can be said that perifoveal capillary BFV is related to the development and improvement of ERM in the long term.