UC Davis

Purpose

To describe a case of fine retinal striae visualized using an adaptive optics flood illuminated (AO-flood) fundus camera in a patient with vision loss from an idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane (ERM).

Methods

A case report of a 48-year-old woman with recent vision loss from ERM imaged using an AO-flood fundus camera and high resolution Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (Fd-OCT) before and 3 months after vitrectomy.

Results

Visual acuity improved from 20/70 to 20/20 after vitrectomy. Preoperative Fd-OCT showed severe cystoid macular edema with irregularities in the outer nuclear layer which consists of cell bodies of photoreceptors. Preoperative AO-flood en face images showed dark linear striae of approximately 10 μm width overlying the cone mosaic that improved following surgery, concurrent with improvement in visual acuity and morphologic changes on Fd-OCT.

Conclusion

Microstructural changes within the retinal layers resulting from macular traction from ERM can be visualized using an AO-flood fundus camera and Fd-OCT. They can appear as fine linear striae in AO-flood en face images. Further studies are needed to correlate these changes with vision loss associated with this condition.