{
  "abstract": "Purpose To assess prevalence and associations of epiretinal membranes (ERMs) in a general population.Methods In participants of the population-based Beijing Eye Study, we assessed macular volume optical coherence tomographic (OCT) scans for ERMs.Results The study included 1351 eyes (914 participants) (age: 64.7±9.8 years; range: 50–91 years). ERMs were detected in 80 eyes (5.9%; 95% CI 4.9% to 6.9%) of 60 participants (6.6%; 95% CI 5.1% to 8.1%), with ERMs without retinal surface wrinkling in 34 (2.5%) eyes, ERMs with retinal surface wrinkling and normal fovea contour in 16 (1.2%) eyes, ERMs with reduced foveal depth in 20 (1.5%) eyes, ERMs with complete foveal flattening in 6 (0.4%) eyes and ERMs with foveal elevation in 4 (0.2%) eyes. Hyper-reflective epiretinal dots (HEDs) were detected in 114 (8.4%) eyes. Higher ERM prevalence was associated (multivariable analysis) with higher stage of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (OR: 1.81; 95% CI 1.34 to 2.45; p<0.001), older age (OR: 1.05; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.09; p=0.002), higher prevalence of HEDs (OR: 9.18; 95% CI 4.85 to 17.4; p<0.001) and worse best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (OR: 2.75; 95% CI 1.04 to 7.30; p=0.04), but not with axial length (p=0.69) or pseudophakia (p=0.98). Out of 746 eyes without PVD, 3 (0.4%) eyes had ERMs (without retinal surface wrinkling) and 9 (1.2%) eyes showed HEDs. Higher ERM stage increased with higher PVD stage (beta: 0.32; p<0.001), older age (beta: 0.11; p=0.006) and worse BCVA (beta: 0.07; p=0.04), but not with axial length (p=0.75) or pseudophakia (p=0.71).Conclusions As measured by OCT, ERM prevalence was mainly associated with PVD and to a minor degree with older age and worse BCVA, while longer axial length, pseudophakia or ocular diseases such as age-related macular disease and glaucoma were not related to prevalence and stage of ERMs.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute Francais de Myopie, Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Paris, France",
        "Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore",
        "Beijing Visual Science and Translational Eye Research Institute (BERI), Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China",
        "L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India",
        "Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong",
        "New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA",
        "Privatpraxis Prof Jonas und Dr. Panda-Jonas, Heidelberg, Germany"
      ],
      "name": "Jost B Jonas"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Medical Faculty Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Department of Ophthalmology, Heidelberg, Germany",
        "Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Institut Français de Myopie, Paris, France",
        "L V Prasad Eye Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India",
        "Privatpraxis Prof Jonas und Dr. Panda-Jonas, Privatpraxis Prof Jonas und Dr. Panda-Jonas, Heidelberg, Germany"
      ],
      "name": "Songhomitra Panda-Jonas"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Beijing Visual Science and Translational Eye Research Institute (BERI), Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China",
        "Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, People's Republic of China"
      ],
      "name": "Ya Xing Wang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany",
        "NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Rahul A Jonas"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Epiretinal membranes: prevalence and associations in relationship to posterior vitreous detachment – the Beijing Eye Study",
  "uid": "bb1407c8-55d9-520c-8995-2042f74e18c5"
}