THE BELGIAN OPHTHALMIC ASSOCIATIONS
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This abstract is assigned to session FAB: Fluorescein Angiography Club Belgium
| Title | The importance of gas injection in idiopathic epiretinal membrane peeling recovery |
| Purpose | Inner limiting membrane (ILM) removal has become a standard procedure in idiopathic epiretinal membrane (iERM) peeling since 15 years but some entities still badly respond to surgery, either in their final visual acuity or anatomy. We herein propose to investigate the importance of gas injection as a tamponnade in every iERM peeling and examine the effect on final visual acuity, metamorphopsia, and OCT findings. |
| Methods | This study is a 4 year prospective study including 56 patients that were operated for ILM peeling under slit lamp microscopic control. Patients were either assigned in group 1 (gas injection at the end of surgery, n=29) or group 2 (no gas, n=27). When gas was injected, patients were asked to respect a prone positioning during 10’/hour for the first 7 days. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was measured in decimals preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery with OCT reports, and then converted in LogMar. Inclusion criterias were BCVA between 0,5 and 0,2(LogMar) with an iERM (no history of diabetus, retinal vein occlusion, retinal detachment, …). In a next step, iERM were subdivided in different entities based on OCT findings to examine the importance of gas on surgical results. |
| Results | Preoperative BCVA was comparable between groups. Final BCVA and the number of lines gained were measured at one year and revealed an increased recovery with gas (p<0,001). Especially, anatomic results demonstrated by OCT findings are better after gas injection in some iERM entities. |
| Conclusion | The injection of gas at the end of surgery represents an important procedure to reach a better final visual acuity and anatomical results at OCT. |
Author 1
| Last name | KOCH |
| Initials | P |
| Department | CHU St-Pierre; Clinique du Parc Leopold |
| City | Brussels |
Author 2
| Last name | BENCHEKROUN |
| Initials | S |
| Department | CHU St-Pierre |
| City | Brussels |
Author 3
| Last name | LIBERT |
| Initials | J |
| Department | Clinique du Parc Leopold |
| City | Brussels |