Retinal pigment epithelium atrophy after epiretinal membrane and internal limiting membrane peeling: case reports

Objective: To describe the development of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) atrophy after uncomplicated pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with epiretinal membrane (ERM) and/or internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling in 2 patients. Cases description: Case 1: A 79-years-old female with diagnosis of a full-thickness macular hole in her right eye (OD) with best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of: 20/100 and left eye (OS): 20/70. After surgery she developed large RPE hyperplasia and presented hand movement that did not improve with pinhole. Case 2: A 69-years-old female patient who had ERM in her OS with BCVA of 20/30 in both eyes (OU). PPV was assisted with brilliant blue (BB) to better visualize the ILM. During follow-up visits we evidenced RPE atrophy in the zone where peeling was done. In the last control after 2-years, her visual acuity was 20/40 that did not improve with pinhole. Discussion: There are three possible mechanisms to explain this complication: toxic damage, mechanical trauma during the membrane removal with forceps, or a combination of both. In our cases, a combination of them is probably the cause of the presence of RPE atrophy. Conclusion: Vitrectomy with membrane removal is successful in most cases with low rate of complications. Because RPE atrophy is infrequent, our suggestion is to continue performing this technique and if possible, it should be done without dye staining to minimize risks. Abbreviations: ERM = epiretinal membrane, ILM = internal limiting membrane, MH = macular hole, RPE = Retinal pigment epithelium, OD = right eye, BCVA = Best corrected visual acuity, OS = left eye, OU = both eyes, IOL = intraocular lens, OCT = Optical coherence tomography, BB = Brilliant blue, TB = Trypan blue, ICG = indocyanine green