Topical Use of Corticosteroid to Prevent Epiretinal Membrane Formation in Eyes With Retinal Tear Undergoing Laser Retinopexy: a Pilot Prospective Clinical Study

Epiretinal membrane (ERM) is a frequent, sight-threatening eye condition occurring in 1.02% - 28.9% of eyes in persons aged 40 years or older. [1] While often idiopathic in nature, ERM formation has been associated with retinal tears, possibly due to a breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier [1-3]. Pathological analysis of ERM content shows inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, growth factors and interleukins, which can promote fibroblast remodelling that leads to a contractile scar formation on the retinal surface. [1, 4-8] For this reason, ERM formation has been suggested to be an aberrant tissue repair or wound-healing process driven by inflammatory reactions. Since corticosteroids inhibit the inflammatory cascade and fibroblast transdifferentiation, administration of a corticosteroid following retinal tears should theoretically reduce the risk of ERM formation. [9-10] In this study, we aim to assess whether administration of a topical corticosteroid would attenuate ERM formation following laser retinopexy of retinal tears.