[Correlation with histological findings and visual prognosis in epiretinal membrane of human diabetic retinopathy]

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) leads to retinal neovascularization, epiretinal membrane formation and subsequent traction retinal detachment. The study of the pathogenesis of the epiretinal membrane promotes the research on the underlying mechanisms of PDR progression, contributing to the suppression of visual loss. Immunohistochemical analyses had indicated the expression of various proteins, such as growth factors, transcription factors and extracellular matrices in the epiretinal membrane tissues obtained during vitrectomy. These results may clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of the epiretinal membrane. Yet the correlation with histological findings in the PDR epiretinal membrane and the patients' clinical course remains unknown. In this review, we demonstrate that the degree of lymphocyte infiltration in the epiretinal membrane differs in each PDR case and that a lymphocyte-rich epiretinal membrane significantly correlates with epiretinal membrane fibrosis and subsequent poor visual prognosis. Therefore, histopathological research of the epiretinal membrane may not only develop further patho-physiological analyses of the membrane formation, but also provide significant information on individual-based additional treatment following vitrectomy.