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• case 17 macula hole

Epiretinal membrane

This is also called cellophane maculopathy or macular pucker. The central part of the retina develops wrinkles. A very thin film or membrane on the surface retina starts to shrink, and this causes the wrinkling.

If your sight is stable and not getting worse, then surgery is not usually needed. Only a few people notice an increase in the wrinkling. These are the patients that surgery may help.

The surgery starts by passing small instruments through very small holes. Then the vitreous is removed. (The vitreous is the jelly in the middle of the eye..this part of the operation is called a 'vitrectomy') The membrane is then peeled off and removed.

The vitreous is replaced with clear fluid.

Risks

As with any operation there are risks. The main risks are complications such as infection and retinal detachment, both of which can be very serious and cause severe loss of sight. The risk of such a major problem is probably about 2% (1 in 50). Many patients will develop a cataract, and there are a number or minor problems (and rarely more serious problems that can develop).

Case 17..a macula hole

This is a different condition to that of epiretinal membrane formation as described above. However, the treatment is similar: an epiretinal membrane peel is needed to repair a macula hole. This hole was noted at the first postoperative visit after successful cataract surgery. The patient saw 6/18, and was 6/24 preoperatively. It is likely the hole was present for some time but could not be seen because of the cataract.

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