Prevalence and significance of fovea plana in patients with epiretinal membrane

Abstract

Introduction Fovea plana is indicative of an immature inner retina, yet its association with epimacular membrane (ERM) remains unexplored. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of fovea plana in the contralateral eye of patients diagnosed with ERM. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on consecutive patients in a monocentric tertiary ophthalmic department between January and April 2021. The study included all patients referred for ERM, with dense optical coherence tomography (OCT) B-scans utilized to assess the incidence of fovea plana in the contralateral eye. Patients with bilateral ERM were excluded from the analysis. Results Out of 181 patients, 26 exhibited fovea plana in the contralateral eye, resulting in an incidence rate of 14.3%. Demographic characteristics, OCT patterns, and indications for surgery did not differ significantly between patients with and without fovea plana. Discussion The prevalence of fovea plana in patients with ERM did not exhibit a statistically significant increase compared to the reported incidence in patients undergoing preoperative cataract surgery. Conclusion In our cohort, the incidence of fovea plana in patients with ERM was determined to be 14.3%.