Combined laser treatment of early idiopathic epiretinal membrane: clinical evaluation of the developed technique

Process of development of epiretinal membrane (ERM) on the retinal surface of macular area is one of the important problems associated with vitreoretinal pathologies. Up to the present day, there has not been developed an effective method to arrest fibrosis at the early stages of its development. This study aimed to evaluate efficacy and safety of the new combined laser technique designed to treat early idiopathic ERM (stages 0–1). Ninety-two patients aged 64.7 ± 9.6 years (mean) participated in the clinical research. They were divided into three groups: treatment group (n = 32), patients whose ERM was treated following the new combined laser technique; comparison group (n = 30), patients who underwent grid laser coagulation; control group (n = 30), no treatment, observation of the natural course. Based on the results of examination of the patients, we assessed uncorrected visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity, central retinal thickness, central retinal sensitivity. Assessed against the results registered in comparison and control groups, the developed combined laser treatment technique applied in the treatment group proved to be highly effective in maintaining/improving visual functional indicators and stabilizing/improving morphofunctional indicators throughout the entire period of observation. As pertains to the morphological and functional structures of sensory retina, the technique enabled retinal sensitivity improvement at different stages of observation, which reflects its safety and efficacy.