Abstract
BACKGROUND: To assess the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of idiopathic epiretinal membrane (iERM) by evaluating blood-count-derived inflammatory marker levels. METHODS: The medical records of patients diagnosed with iERM and cataract patients with normal fundus examinations were analyzed retrospectively. Levels of neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, and thrombocytes were obtained from blood samples. Systemic inflammatory markers, including neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI) were calculated and compared between the two groups. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the best cutoff value of NLR, PLR, SII, and SIRI in iERM. RESULTS: In total, 91 iERM cases and 95 controls were included in the study. iERM patients had significantly higher NLR (2.25 vs. 1.91, p = 0.003), PLR (117.22 vs. 113.33, p = 0.042), SII (529.45 vs. 472.57, p = 0.003), and SIRI (1.25 vs. 0.90, p < 0.001). The area under the curve of NLR, PLR, SII, and SIRI in differentiating patients with iERM and controls was 0.637, 0.608, 0.645 and 0.660, respectively, according to ROC analysis. The best cutoff values (with sensitivity and specificity) were 1.95 (60.4% and 52.6%) for NLR, 116.7 (54.9% and 55.7%) for PLR, 498.03 (58.2% and 58.9%) for SII, and 1.07 (62.6% and 64.6%) for SIRI.No significant differences in inflammatory markers were found across iERM stages. CONCLUSION: Patients with iERM exhibit higher levels of blood-count-derived inflammatory markers, suggesting a link between systemic subclinical inflammation and iERM development. However, these markers do not correlate with iERM severity. Further research with larger cohorts and broader inflammatory marker analysis is needed to elucidate the role of systemic inflammation in iERM pathogenesis.