Progressive Centrifugal Retinal Vessel Realignment Documented by Fundus Autofluorescence over Three Years after Epiretinal Membrane Peeling: A Case Report.

PURPOSE: To report a case of progressive anatomical improvement documented over 3 years after epiretinal membrane (ERM) peeling and to describe how fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging contributed to the documentation and evaluation of this long-term recovery.

METHODS

A retrospective case report was conducted.

RESULTS

This case report describes a 70-year-old male patient with decreased visual acuity due to idiopathic ERM. Preoperative FAF demonstrated vessel displacement, and optical coherence tomography showed Grade 3 tractional changes. The patient underwent pars plana vitrectomy with ERM and internal limiting membrane peeling. Visual acuity improved rapidly, while FAF follow-up over 3 years demonstrated progressive centrifugal repositioning of retinal vessels toward their predisplacement locations.

CONCLUSIONS

This finding illustrates the utility of FAF in documenting long-term anatomical recovery beyond macular thickness normalization. FAF may serve as a valuable complementary tool to monitor retinal remodeling and vessel realignment following membrane peeling, supporting its role in postoperative assessment of ERM surgery outcomes.