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. 2014 Apr;40(4):626-31.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcrs.2013.09.018. Epub 2014 Feb 14.

Improving visual outcomes by preserving outer retina morphology in eyes with resolved pseudophakic cystoid macular edema

Allan A Hunter  1 , Sara P Modjtahedi  2 , Kuumba Long  2 , Robert Zawadzki  2 , Eric K Chin  2 , Jeffrey J Caspar  2 , Lawrence S Morse  2 , David G Telander  2
Affiliations

Improving visual outcomes by preserving outer retina morphology in eyes with resolved pseudophakic cystoid macular edema

Allan A Hunter et al. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: To use ultra-high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) subclinical anatomic alterations to explain suboptimum vision despite pseudophakic cystoid macula edema (CME) resolution.

Setting: University of California-Davis, Sacramento, California, USA.

Design: Case study.

Methods: This study comprised patients who had cataract phacoemulsification surgery. Cases of resolved postoperative CME (diagnosed postoperatively by 1 month and resolved by 1 year) were included. Exclusion criteria included any other cause for decreased vision or compounding factors. Patients with a history of resolved pseudophakic CME were imaged using a purpose-built ultra-high-resolution OCT system with 4.5 μm axial resolution and an acquisition speed of 9 frames/sec (1000 A-scans/frame). The corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) was determined by Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study standards. Statistical analysis was by the unpaired t test. A P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The review identified 56 patients with a pseudophakic CME diagnosis at least 1 month postoperatively. Fifteen eyes (26.8%) had less than 20/20 CDVA despite resolution of CME; 7 participated. Four patients with 20/20 CDVA after resolution of pseudophakic CME participated. Eyes with reduced CDVA after macula edema showed ultra-high-resolution OCT evidence of blurring of outer segments of photoreceptors, while controls showed normal outer retina morphology (P<.05).

Conclusions: Persistent anatomic alteration of photoreceptors visualized by ultra-high-resolution OCT correlated with reduced CDVA in patients with pseudophakic CME compared with patients who had 20/20 CDVA after macula edema. This anatomic alteration in outer photoreceptor morphology is a plausible explanation for the reduced CDVA in this disease.

Financial disclosure: No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.

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