Surgical management of epiretinal membranes.

Cellular membranes growing on the inner retinal surface occur in various ocular disorders, and modern methods of vitreous surgery permit removal of these membranes in selected cases. The surgical treatment of epiretinal membranes complicating proliferative retinopathies and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment is briefly described, and the results of such surgery in a series of thirteen consecutive eyes with macular pucker after otherwise successful surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment are presented in detail. A technically successful result with visual improvement was achieved in each of the thirteen eyes. An iatrogenic retinal tear (successfully repaired) occurred in one eye, and recurrent retinal detachment requiring an additional operation occurred postoperatively in two eyes. Progression of lens opacities occurred postoperatively in four of six phakic eyes, and one eye later required cataract extraction. Despite such risks, and the fact that the best postoperative visual acuity achieved was 20/30, use of vitrectomy methods to remove epiretinal membranes can provide significant visual improvement in selected cases.