Retinal glial cell removing during internal limiting membrane peeling is associated with higher-stage idiopathic epiretinal membrane.

IF 5.2 1区医学 Q1 OPHTHALMOLOGY

Eye and Vision Pub Date : 2026-10-08 DOI:10.1186/s40662-026-00514-z

Denise Vogt, Christopher Schmitz, Azza Dammak, Andrea Govetto, Ricarda G Schumann, Mario R Romano, Melih Parlak, Armin Wolf

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Histological examination of surgically excised internal limiting membrane (ILM) specimens may provide insights into retinal tissue changes, but their relationship to retinal imaging findings remains unclear. The aim of this study was to correlate retinal imaging findings with histological evidence of retinal tissue components in surgically excised ILM specimens from eyes with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (iERM) or full-thickness macular hole (FTMH).

Methods: This retrospective clinicopathological study included 42 eyes that underwent pars plana vitrectomy with membrane peeling at the Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Ulm, Germany, between April 2024 and May 2025: 22 eyes with iERM and 20 with FTMH. Surgically excised tissue from all eyes was examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and clinical data and retinal imaging findings obtained by optical coherence tomography (OCT) were evaluated.

Results: TEM confirmed the ILM in all included eyes. Intact retinal glial cells with ultrastructural features consistent with Müller cells were observed in localized areas of ILM thinning in 3 eyes with iERM but in no eyes with FTMH. Retinal cell fragments were detected in 21 eyes with iERM and 18 eyes with FTMH. Among eyes with iERM, those containing retinal glial cells had a significantly greater mean central macular thickness (CMT, 619 ± 57 µm) than those without retinal glial cells (P = 0.008); all 3 eyes had Stage 3 epiretinal membrane (ERM), ectopic inner foveal layers (EIFL), and central bouquet abnormalities (CBA). OCT findings did not differ according to retinal cell fragment size.

Conclusion: Retinal glial cells adherent to the ILM were identified only in eyes with iERM and were associated with higher-stage ERM, often in areas of ILM thinning. By contrast, retinal cell fragments occurred in both iERM and FTMH. These findings suggest disease-specific differences at the vitreoretinal interface, with stronger and more complex retinal-ILM interactions in iERM that may influence ILM peeling.

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内限制膜剥离过程中视网膜胶质细胞的移除与高阶段特发性视网膜前膜有关。

背景：手术切除的内限制膜（ILM）标本的组织学检查可能提供视网膜组织变化的见解，但它们与视网膜成像结果的关系尚不清楚。本研究的目的是将视网膜成像结果与手术切除的具有特发性视网膜前膜（iERM）或全层黄斑孔（FTMH）的眼睛的视网膜组织成分的组织学证据联系起来。方法：回顾性临床病理研究纳入德国乌尔姆大学医院眼科于2024年4月至2025年5月行玻璃体切割伴膜剥离手术的42只眼，其中iERM 22眼，FTMH 20眼。通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）检查手术切除的所有眼睛组织，并评估临床数据和光学相干断层扫描（OCT）获得的视网膜成像结果。结果：透射电镜证实了所有眼均可见ILM。3眼iERM患者在ILM局部变薄区域观察到完整的视网膜胶质细胞，其超微结构特征与 ller细胞一致，但未见FTMH患者。在21眼iERM和18眼FTMH中检测到视网膜细胞碎片。在iERM患者中，视网膜胶质细胞组的平均黄斑中央厚度（CMT, 619±57µm）显著高于无视网膜胶质细胞组（P = 0.008）；3只眼均有3期视网膜前膜（ERM）、内中央凹层异位（EIFL）和中央花束异常（CBA）。视网膜细胞碎片大小不同，OCT结果无差异。结论：视网膜胶质细胞粘附于ILM仅在iERM的眼睛中被发现，并且与更高阶段的ERM相关，通常发生在ILM变薄的区域。相比之下，iERM和FTMH均出现视网膜细胞碎片。这些发现表明，疾病特异性差异存在于玻璃体视网膜界面，iERM中视网膜与ILM的相互作用更强、更复杂，可能影响ILM剥落。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Eye and Vision OPHTHALMOLOGY-

CiteScore

8.60

自引率

2.40%

发文量

审稿时长

15 weeks

期刊介绍： Eye and Vision is an open access, peer-reviewed journal for ophthalmologists and visual science specialists. It welcomes research articles, reviews, methodologies, commentaries, case reports, perspectives and short reports encompassing all aspects of eye and vision. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: current developments of theoretical, experimental and clinical investigations in ophthalmology, optometry and vision science which focus on novel and high-impact findings on central issues pertaining to biology, pathophysiology and etiology of eye diseases as well as advances in diagnostic techniques, surgical treatment, instrument updates, the latest drug findings, results of clinical trials and research findings. It aims to provide ophthalmologists and visual science specialists with the latest developments in theoretical, experimental and clinical investigations in eye and vision.