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No benefit from ILM removal in surgery for diabetic macular edema, study finds
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Removal of the internal limiting membrane conferred no benefit in eyes undergoing vitrectomy for diabetic macular edema, Japanese surgeons found.
Eyes that underwent internal limiting membrane (ILM) removal had no greater improvement in vision or decrease in retinal thickness than eyes that did not undergo ILM removal during vitrectomy for diabetic macular edema, according to Teiko Yamamoto and colleagues at Yamagata University Hospital.
The researchers conducted a prospective, case-controlled study in 30 eyes of 29 patients with diabetic macular edema. Fifteen eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy with ILM removal and 15 eyes underwent the procedure without ILM removal.
In the group with ILM removal, visual acuity improved by 0.2 or more on the logMAR scale in seven eyes and was unchanged in eight eyes. In the ILM-preserved group, nine eyes improved by 0.2 or more and six were unchanged. Eleven months after surgery, the differences in visual acuity between the groups was not statistically significant.
The final retinal thickness in the group that had ILM removal decreased in 12 eyes (80%). In the ILM-preserved group, the final retinal thickness decreased in 13 eyes (87%). This difference was also not statistically significant, the study authors said.
The study is published in Ophthalmologica.