Objectives: To describe histopathological results of idiopathic retinal membrane (iERMs) and the association between these results. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional decriptive study which used standard vitrectomy to obtain epiretinal membrane in 35 iERMs in Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology. | Journal of military pharmaco-medicine STUDY OF HISTOPATHOLOGICAL RESULTS OF IDIOPATHIC RETINAL MEMBRANE Nguyen Van Cuong*; Dang Tran Dat**; Nguyen Dinh Ngan* SUMMARY Objectives: To describe histopathological results of idiopathic retinal membrane (iERMs) and the association between these results. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional decriptive study which used standard vitrectomy to obtain epiretinal membrane in 35 iERMs in Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology. Results: Six different cell types were discovered based on morphology including glial cell (35/35), fibroblast (23/35), myofibroblast (23/35), macrophage (13/35), lymphocyte (5/35) and neutrophil (2/35). The number of cell type in one sample ranged from 1 to 5 types (average ± cell types in a sample). There were statistically significant difference between the number of cell type in sparse density ( ± cell types in a sample) and in dense density group ( ± cell types in a sample) in dense density group (p = , test t-student). The inflammatory cells (macrophage, lymphocyte, neutrophil) just appeared in few samples. Conclusion: There were 6 types of cells in iERM samples and glial cell is the most popular. Cell density and number of cell types were correlated. The inflammatory cells (macrophage, lymphocyte, neutrophil) just appeared in few samples with high number of cell types. * Keywords: Idiopathic epiretinal membrane; Histopathology. INTRODUCTION Epiretinal membrane (ERM) is contractile membrane that occurs on the inner surface of the retina and can lead to significant visual impairment when located at the central retina. It is caused by the proliferation of avascular cellular sheets on the inner retinal surface and along the internal limiting membrane (ILM), which possesses contractile properties and as a result, leads to variable visual symptoms and visual impairments, primarily due to the mechanical distortion of the macular area [1, 2]. Idiopathic ERM is an ERM, .
