Aniseikonia in various retinal disorders.

PURPOSE

The purpose was to quantify and compare the severity of aniseikonia in patients undergoing vitrectomy for various retinal disorders.

METHODS

We studied 357 patients with retinal disorders including epiretinal membrane (ERM), macular hole (MH), cystoid macular edema with branch / central retinal vein occlusion (BRVO-CME / CRVO-CME), diabetic macular edema (DME), macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (M-off RD), and macula-on RD (M-on RD) as well as 31 normal controls. The amount of aniseikonia was measured using the New Aniseikonia Test preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively.

RESULTS

Of all patients, 59% presented aniseikonia. Preoperative and postoperative mean aniseikonia were 4.0 ± 4.1% and 3.0 ± 3.6%, respectively. In particular, 68% of patients with ERM had macropsia, and approximately half of MH, RVO-CME, DME, and M-off RD patients had micropsia. Preoperative aniseikonia was significantly severe in ERM than in other disorders. Vitrectomy improved aniseikonia only in MH, while visual acuity was improved in all disorders except CRVO-CME.

CONCLUSION

More than half of the patients showed aniseikonia preoperatively. A majority of ERM patients exhibited macropsia, whereas MH, RVO-CME, DME, and macula-off RD patients presented micropsia. The aniseikonia score was greatest in ERM patients. In most retinal disorders, surgery significantly improved visual acuity, but not aniseikonia.