Axial length measurement of the Epiretinal Membrane eye

• Published in: JAPANESE ORTHOPTIC JOURNAL Vol. 36; pp. 59 - 65
• Main Authors: Sato, Yu, Kanai, Yukari, Hori, Sadao, Aizawa, Minami, Sakurai, Yukari, Shikama, Satoko, Yamamoto, Kaori
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: JAPANESE ASSOCIATION OF CERTIFIED ORTHOPTISTS 2007
• Subjects: axial length measurement; double peak; epiretinal membrane; IOLMaster; retinal pigment epithelium
• ISSN: 0387-5172; 1883-9215
• DOI: 10.4263/jorthoptic.36.59

Purpose: To study the usefulness of IOLMaster™, a non-contact type optical device, in measuring axial lengths in patients with epiretinal membrane. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted on 17 eyes of 15 patients with epiretinal membrane from September 2005 to September 2006. We obtained the axial lengths measured by both IOLMaster™ and an ultrasound A-mode method (A-mode), and the preoperative retinal thickness measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) on the same day at our hospital from the subjects. The control group consisted of 40 eyes of 31 patients without any macular lesion. Differences in axial lengths measured by IOLMaster™ and by A-mode were compared. Axial lengths measured by IOLMaster™ were compared before and after vitrectomy. Waveforms in patients with a double peak shown by IOLMaster™ and their retinal thicknesses measured by OCT were compared. Results: The differences in measured axial lengths by IOLMaster™ and A-mode from patients with epiretinal membrane were significantly longer than those from control group (p<0.01, t Test). The axial lengths measured by IOLMaster™ showed no significant difference before and after vitrectomy, and the length after vitrectomy corresponded to the latter peak of a double peak before surgery. The gap between the former and latter peaks well corresponded with the foveal thicknesses measured by OCT (correlation coefficient of 0.842). Conclusion: The IOLMaster™ accurately estimate the axial length in patients with epiretinal membrane as it identify the location of retinal pigment epithelium. Especially in patients with a double peak shown by the IOLMaster™, the latter peak indicates the accurate axial length.