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Epiretinal membrane is a thin sheet of fibrous tissue that can develop on the surface of the retina and cause a disturbance in vision.
Is a result of changes in the vitreous humor or more rarely, diabetes. In the majority of cases, an epiretinal membrane develops in an eye with no history of previous problems. This type of epiretinal membrane is called idiopathic. Occasionally however, an epiretinal membrane will develop in an eye as a result of trauma, inflammatory disease, retinal detachment, or other pathological conditions.
Sometimes, is the result of immune system response to protect the retina, cells converge in the macular area as the vitreous ages. Posterior vitreous detachment can cause small lesions in the retina, causing exudation, inflammation and leukocyte response. These cells can gradually create a transparent layer like all scar tissue on the retina tend to be a bulge or even cause swelling in the area or even macular edema. Often this leads to distortion of the images we see. The deformities are usually makropsia (objects appear larger) and the binocular vision caused anisoeikonia (two eyes viewing the same object with different dimensions). Young (under 50 years), these cells occasionally pull free and disintegrate on their own (automatically) solving the problem. In most patients (over 60) the condition is permanent. The underlying photoreceptors (the cone cells and rod cells) are usually not damaged, unless the membrane becomes too thick and hard, so usually there is no macular degeneration.
Not all epiretinal membranes require treatment. There is no non-surgical treatment for an epiretinal membrane. Epiretinal membranes can be treated with vitrectomy surgery. Surgery is not necessary if the epiretinal membrane is mild and having little or no effect on vision.
Regular eye examination is necessary when the disease is diagnosed. The standard control is a simple fundus examination and as detailed is the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT).
OCT device is available in our office by 10/2007. If you want to learn more about the OCT, click here.
Apart from anything else is needed of self examination using Amsler grid. If you want to learn more about Amsler grid, click here.
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