[A case of central retinal vein occlusion forming the epiretinal membrane]

We encountered a patient with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) forming an epiretinal membrane (ERM) in a wide area. Generally formation of ERM is rare in CRVO.

The patient was a 72-years-old female with ischemic CRVO in the right eye, who had undergone insufficient pan-retinal photocoagulation. Since ERM was formed in a wide area 7 months after the occurrence of CRVO, the patient underwent vitrectomy.

Although the patient was elderly, the posterior vitreum had not been detached, and ERM was observed in a wide area from the disk of the optic nerve over the vascular arcade. Since the ERM strongly adhered to the retina, incision of the membrane with vitreous scissors was required. The membrane tissue collected during the operation showed few vascular and cellular components, and consisted of ERM extracellular matrices such as collagen.

In this patient, however, it was probable that not only barrier dysfunction of retinal vessel endothelial cells caused by elevated pressure in the retinal vein and rapid retinal ischemia but also the anatomical feature of the undetached posterior vitreum was involved in the formation of the ERM.