This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Classification scheme specifies types, features of vitreomacular interface disease
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
PHILADELPHIA — A new classification system will help retina specialists categorize, quantify and manage vitreomacular interface disease, a speaker said here.
Vitreomacular adhesion (VMA) is not a disease in and of itself, Jay S. Duker, MD, told colleagues at Macula 2014.
“It’s a finding; it is not a disease,” Duker said. “Adhesion of the vitreous is a normal state in the eye.”
Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography findings offer a better understanding of the pathogenesis of vitreoretinal interface diseases in cases undergoing treatment with Jetrea (ocriplasmin, ThromboGenics) or traditional vitrectomy, Duker said.
“If we could do this, this would be applicable to clinical practice. It would also be useful for clinical trials. We also want it to be, based on the literature, predictive of surgical outcomes. In the end, this is going to allow us to speak a common language about these diseases,” Duker said.
The classification system, published in the December 2013 issue of Ophthalmology, includes four diseases: vitreomacular traction (VMT), full-thickness macular hole, lamellar macular hole and epiretinal membrane.
VMA and VMT are subdivided into focal- or broad-based pathology, with focal disease having an adhesion of 1,500 µm or less and broad-based disease having an adhesion of 1,500 µm or greater.
“The definition [of VMT] is very similar to VMA, except there have to be anatomic retinal changes on OCT, and this is always pathologic,” Duker said. “Whether the patient has symptoms or not doesn’t really matter. VMT is essentially VMA with retinal architectural changes.”
Disclosure: Duker receives research funding from Carl Zeiss Meditec and is a consultant for Alcon and ThromboGenics.
Reference:
Duker JS, et al. Ophthalmology. 2013;doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2013.07.042.