"The association of outer retinal tubulation with vitreomacular adhesion and epiretinal membrane in eyes with age-related macular degeneration"

Abstract

Abstract:Aim of this study to investigate the relationship between outer retinal tubulation (ORT) and vitreomacular adhesion (VMA) or epiretinal membrane (ERM) in eyes with age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). 251 eyes of 138 (46 female, 92 male) patients were included in the study. Of those, 84 eyes were with dry type ARMD, 167 eyes were with wet type ARMD. Medical records of the cases were evaluated retrospectively. Evaluation of the vitreomacular interface (including VMA and ERM), and ORT was checked by using optical coherence tomography. VMA was observed in 26 eyes of 251 eyes and ERM in 46 of 251 eyes. In eyes with VMA, while ORT was not found in dry type ARMD, ORT was found in 5 (29.4%) of 17 eyes with wet type ARMD. In eyes with ERM, while ORT was found in one of 13 eyes (7.7%) with dry type ARMD, ORT was found in 6 (18.2%) of 33 eyes with wet type ARMD. No statistically significant difference was found between ORT presence and ERM or VMA presence in dry or wet type ARMD patients (p≥0.05). Our study results suggest that, although there is no correlation between VMA and ERM with development of ORT in ARMD, further large-scale studies are required to confirm these findings and to establish a definite conclusion.