Experience with epiretinal membrane surgery?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Have any Dopers ever needed surgery for an epiretinal membrane? It seems I’m looking at that in the next year or so, for one eye or possibly both.

Although I’m tired of having eye issues throughout my life (details available if needed, otherwise never mind), I am quite heartened by reading that this surgery involves removing and replacing vitreous fluid.

Years ago I knew someone who had some sort of eye surgery that resulted in all his nasty floaters being sucked out. He was jubilant at experiencing vision sans floaters afterwards, as I will also be if my floaters can be dispensed with (they are unusually bad; various ophthalmologists have told me this through the years).

So - anyone had this surgery? Did it result in a reduction in floaters?

2

I was just about to post a similar question and noticed that this was already posted but got no responses. My girlfriend thought she had a cataract, but we just saw an ophthalmologist and she was just diagnosed with epiretinal membrane. We’re going to see the surgeon in a couple of weeks. She also has a lot of the obvious questions: what is the surgery like, what is the recovery like, etc. But since there were no responses here I guess there aren’t many dopers with experience with this. CairoCarol, what’s your status? Have you had the surgery yet or is it planned?

Interestingly, my girlfriend doesn’t have many floaters, but I do. I would love to have a vitrectomy to remove them but every doctor I’ve talked to about it said vitrectomy is way overkill to get rid of floaters. (I’m not sure they really understand how annoying and problematic floaters can be.) So I’m interested in the fact that vitrectomy to treat epiretinal membrane is considered safe and standard. I may ask the surgeon about it when we see him.

3

I do have a little more information than when I first posted as I have had a consultation with a retinal specialist. He said that yes, the surgery would indeed take care of the floaters.

Surgery for an epiretinal membrane is apparently not indicated unless it is interfering with vision, which in my case it is not yet (except under blue light - but that’s only happened twice, when I was trying to read a web page with a blue background and when I went to a theatre production that temporarily bathed the stage in blue).

Ordinarily, I have to think about the splotch and consciously look for it under natural light to see it; it’s visible but unobtrusive under ordinary evening conditions when a room is artificially illuminated. I think my brain has simply adapted to it and ignores it.

The funny thing, though, is that it is constantly gradually changing shape, which is kind of weird. I don’t know if that is usual. Anyway, the doctor recommended waiting 6 months and reevaluating then.

It seems like a balancing act on whether/when to do surgery, as outcomes are better earlier on in membrane development (per my doctor). On the other hand, like any surgery it comes with risk, so another good option is to avoid surgery forever if the visual disturbance is minor and doesn’t affect functioning.

markn_1, I don’t know what your girlfriend’s eye health is like, but I have retinal degeneration, which makes me more likely to have a poor outcome if I do have the surgery. At least it is a one-eye-at-a-time procedure, assuming both eyes are affected in the first place, so even a worst-case outcome won’t result in losing sight in both eyes.

The other thing is that recovery from surgery sounds like a pain in the ass. I forget the details now, but you do have to lie still for a few days, I think, and then you have some movement restrictions for weeks or months afterwards (but check this out, I think I have purposefully forgotten so that I don’t worry about it).

Let’s see, the only other thing I can remember learning is that one cause of the membranes is having had surgery to fix retinal tears. That’s me in spades - I can’t even count how many surgeries I’ve had, but I would guess between 4 and 6.

Anyway, the doctor and I agreed to take a six-month wait-and-see approach. I’m scheduled for a new evaluation in February. So far, my thought is to not ever do surgery, if the membrane (or membranes - only one eye is really affected now but I can see the ever-so-faint traces of one starting in the other eye too, when the light is just so) doesn’t interfere with normal activities. But since outcomes are better with earlier surgery, if that starts to change I’ll probably do surgery right away.

I hope that helps, and best of luck to your girlfriend. And sympathy to you - as a sufferer from exceptionally bad floaters myself, I know just how annoying they can be.

4

Thanks for the detailed update Carol! My girlfriend’s ERM is definitely impacting her vision. She says straight lines look wavy, and her overall acuity in that eye is worse than 20/200. She’s keen to get the surgery. We’re compiling a list of questions for the surgeon.

5

Let me know how things go! I’m curious, and with this thread perhaps we can build a resource for other people in the future if they come up against this problem.

It’s funny, I had thought I was aware of most everything likely to go wrong with my eyes - but I had never even heard of an epiretinal membrane until I got one myself. I had to ask the doctor to say it twice so I could write down the words correctly.