Epiretinal membrane surgery in highly myopic eyes a case control study

Purpose To evaluate the anatomic and functional outcomes of epiretinal membrane peeling surgery in highly myopic eyes and to compare them with non-highly myopic controls. Design: case control study in a retrospective cohort of 1776 patients undergoing surgery for epiretinal membrane alone or combined with cataract extraction. Methods Fifty-seven highly myopic eyes from 57 patients with axial length over 26 mm were included in the study. For each case studied, we selected from the same cohort one control matched for preoperative acuity, central macular thickness, and surgical technique. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), decrease of central macular thickness (CMT), impact of axial length on postoperative visual recovery and postoperative complications were studied. Results The postoperative best-corrected visual acuities improved by 0,37 LogMar in highly myopic eyes versus 0,39 LogMar in controls (NS). The mean postoperative foveal thickness decrease was 110 μm in highly myopic versus 77 μm in controls (p=0,0585). We did not found any correlation between axial length and improvement of BCVA. We had no difference in the incidence of complication between the two groups. Conclusion ERM peeling gave good anatomical and functional results in highly myopic patients. The axial length has no impact on visual recovery, foveoal thickness decrease and postoperative complications.