Influence of epiretinal membrane on the measurement of peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness using spectral-domain coherence tomography

Background/aimsTo investigate the effect of epiretinal membrane (ERM) on peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness measurements using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (Spectralis; Heidelberg Engineering).MethodsA total of 134 patients with idiopathic ERM and 63 healthy controls were included in this observational comparative study. We categorised ERMs into three severity grades, based on retinal appearance in macular scans. All eyes with ERM were classified into two groups; those involving the peripapillary scan area (ERM+pp, n=68 eyes) and not involving the peripapillary scan area (ERM−pp, n=66 eyes) using the macular disc scan. Peripapillary RNFL thickness was compared between related subgroups as (ERM+pp) or (ERM−pp) group.ResultsTemporal peripapillary RNFL thickness was significantly greater in the ERM+pp group (109.44±22.91 μm), followed by the ERM−pp (82.60±11.77 μm, p