What is epiretinal membrane?
Epiretinal membrane (pronounced epi-ret-i-nal mem-brane or ERM for short) is a condition where a sheet of naturally occurring cells develops on or above the surface of the central part of your retina, an area called the macula. ERM can affect vision if this sheet of cells starts to shrink, causing the retina to wrinkle up under it. This wrinkling of the retina can then cause distortion and blurring of your vision, as well as a possible reduction in your overall level of sight, it doesn’t cause you to lose all your vision and it isn’t painful, only your central vision is affected.
ERM is most common in people over 50. It is thought that most epiretinal membranes occur because of another change in the eye called posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), further information on PVD can be found on RNIB's PVD webpage.
If the cause of an epiretinal membrane is unknown, not caused by PVD or another condition it is referred to as “idiopathic”. ERM can also be associated with other eye conditions or because of previous eye surgery. This is known as an epiretinal membrane secondary to another problem. Most epiretinal membranes affect only one eye, and about 10 percent of idiopathic epiretinal membranes affect both eyes. This means that most people who have an ERM will not go on to develop one in the other eye. If ERM is left untreated, it will not cause any other problems in your eye.
Surgery is the only treatment for ERM as there are no medications or other treatments that can improve or remove it. Surgery will only need to be considered if you are experiencing difficulties with your vision.
