Advances of optical coherence tomography angiography in idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane

Idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane (iERM) is a kind of fundus disease caused by fibrocellular proliferation over the internal limiting membrane (ILM) followed by deformation and wrinkling of the macula due to traction of the fibrous membranes, leading to vision loss and visual distortion in the affected eye.Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has been widely used in the diagnosis of macular diseases including iERM by virtue of non-invasive, high resolution and stratified display of superficial and deep retinal vessels and quantification of retinal vessel density and non-perfusion area.OCTA can provide information of retinal microvascular structure and blood perfusion under disease conditions, revealing the pulling effect of iERM on the microvascular structure, and it can also be used to evaluate changes in blood flow during the course of disease follow-up.After surgery, OCTA can also be used for follow-up monitoring of microvascular structure and blood flow to further predict vision.Although OCTA cannot completely replace fundus angiography, it has provided richer information about the pathogenesis, disease progression and prognostic factors of iERM.This article reviews the progress of research on the application of OCTA in iERM to provide more insight into the application of OCTA in iERM.

Idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane; Tomography, optical coherence; Review