One-year outcomes of 27G core-pars plana vitrectomy of idiopathic epiretinal membrane

The present study aimed to assess the feasibility and safety of 27G core-pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for idiopathic epiretinal membrane (IERM). A retrospective analysis was performed on 38 eyes from 38 patients with IERM with a mean age of 62.73±5.61 years. 27G core-PPV was combined with IERM and internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling. Pre-operative and post-operative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and lens density were measured. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography were performed to determine the patients' macular area. Ultrasound biomicroscopy and B-mode ultrasound were subsequently performed to observe any complications and the follow-up period ranged from 1 week to 12 months post-operatively. A total of 36 patients achieved visual improvement of ≥2 Snellen lines, of which 33 patients exhibited improvements within 1 week and the lens density remained unchanged. The mean central macular thickness significantly decreased at 12 months post-operatively (P≤0.05); however, it was not observed to be correlated with BCVA (r=0.41; P>0.05). The foveal avascular zone of the affected eye was significantly smaller than that of the healthy fellow eye (P≤0.05) and negatively correlated with post-operative BCVA (r=-0.72; P≤0.05). Superficial retinal capillary density and deep retinal capillary density decreased post-operatively (both P≤0.05) and no complications were observed. Taken together, the results of the present study indicate that application of 27G core-PPV with ILM peeling is minimally invasive for IERM and facilitates rapid post-operative BCVA recovery.