Background: Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) has become a standard diagnostic tool in the surgical management of vitreomacular interface disorders. The high-resolution cross-sectional information obtained from SD-OCT is a perfect complement to vitreoretinal surgery. It provides detailed intraoperative anatomical views that are not possible with a microscope.
Objective: To investigate the value of intraoperative real-time OCT with respect to improvement of surgical techniques in the management of vitreomacular disorders.
Methods: A review of the current literature was conducted and an analysis of own systematically evaluated data was included to provide a comprehensive overview of potential applications for the clinical use of intraoperative real-time OCT in macular surgery.
Results: Intraoperative real-time OCT can provide detailed visualization of epiretinal membranes and help to identify whether complete membrane removal has been achieved following surgery. In addition, it can provide qualitative and quantitative information that has previously not been available and assist in surgical decision-making. Intraoperative real-time OCT allows membrane peeling to be performed in selected cases without using retinal dyes, whereas it is not ideal for accurately guiding the surgeon while performing maneuvers.
Conclusion: Intraoperative real-time OCT provides high-resolution visualization of the effects of surgical maneuvers on the microarchitecture of the retina and surrounding tissues and will fill a gap in the understanding of the pathophysiology and prognostic factors of vitreomacular disorders; however, with currently available systems, accurate intraoperative real-time guidance of surgical maneuvers is hindered by several limiting factors.
Keywords: Epiretinal gliosis; Macular hole; Spectral domain optical coherence tomography; Surgery; Vitreomacular traction syndrome.