Is choroidal vascularity index a useful marker in different stages of idiopathic epiretinal membranes?

Background: This study aims to evaluate the choroidal vascularity index in patients with idiopathic epiretinal membrane at different stages.

Methods: This prospective study included 125 eyes of 125 patients with idiopathic epiretinal membrane and 62 eyes of 62 healthy control subjects. In this study, epiretinal membrane stages were defined based on the spectral-domain optical coherence tomography staging system. The choroidal vascularity index was measured as the ratio of the luminal area to the stromal area in the central 1500 μm after binarization on enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography images. Data on epiretinal membrane stages, choroidal vascularity index, and best-corrected visual acuity were noted.

Results: Of 125 eyes with epiretinal membrane, 38 (30.4 %) had stage 1, 32 (25.6 %) had stage 2, and 55 (44 %) had stage 3 disease. Visual acuity was better in eyes with stage 1 or 2 epiretinal membrane than those with stage 3 epiretinal membrane (p < 0.001). The mean choroidal vascularity index was 2.29 ± 1.02 in the control, 2.23 ± 0.98 in the stage 1 epiretinal membrane, 2.22 ± 0.91 in the stage 2 epiretinal membrane, and 2.23 ± 1.11 in the stage 3 epiretinal membrane group. There was no significant difference between epiretinal membrane subgroups and the control group regarding the choroidal vascularity index (p = 0.81).

Conclusion: From the results obtained in the present study, the choroidal vascularity index was not effected by either the development or the progression of idiopathic epiretinal membrane.