The existence of puckering in the retina beyond the macula: a prospective analysis

To examine the existence of idiopathic epiretinal membranes (ERM) in the peripheral retina in patients with or without macular pucker.

The presence of the peripheral idiopathic epiretinal membranes was sought using 200-degree widefield OCT (OPTOS Silverstone Swept source-OCT (SS-OCT) in two age, sex, and ocular comorbidities-matched groups consisting of 38 patients (24 with macular ERM and 14 without macular ERM). The significance of the correlation between the presence of macular and peripheral ERM was determined using Fisher's exact test and unpaired t-test.

Seven out of 24 patients (29%) with idiopathic macular ERM had a peripheral ERM. In contrast, none of the patients without macular ERM had a peripheral ERM. Individuals with a history of idiopathic macular ERM showed a significantly higher incidence of idiopathic peripheral ERM (p = 0.03).

Peripheral idiopathic ERM can be found in patients with macular ERM. All eyes with peripheral ERM were found in eyes with macular ERM. No patient was found to have a peripheral ERM unless a macular ERM was present. The macula seems more predisposed to developing an epiretinal membrane than the peripheral retina. A relatively higher density of Müller cells and tighter vitreoretinal attachments may predispose the posterior pole to idiopathic ERM development.