A special group of macular or macular degeneration diseases in which a membrane forms over the center of vision are called macular surface diseases and include rupture of the macula, “cellophane” wrinkling of the macula, and vitreal traction of the macula.
Cellophane maculopathy is a disease of the macula in which a wrinkled membrane (like cellophane) forms that crosses the center of vision. As the process progresses, the membrane progresses to denser scar tissue and the disease is referred to as macular pucker.
What are the symptoms of cellophane maculopathy?
The disease is characterized by blurring and distortion of the central image, which is best noticed when reading: the letters are blurred and curved and the lines become wavy.
How is yellow spot cracking and cellophane diagnosed?
Experienced ophthalmologists diagnose diseases by eye examination after pupil dilation, and a more detailed examination of the retina and cellophane thickness is achieved by an auxiliary non-invasive diagnostic method called OCT (optical coherence tomography). Mild cellophane usually leads to mild symptoms and in many cases patients hardly notice them. Thicker cellophane membranes produce significant visual impairment and generally do not progress but need to be treated.
How is yellow spot cellophane treated?
Yellow spot cellophane is only treated with surgery. The operation has a high success rate, in 98% of cases the rupture is successfully closed and the cellophane is removed. The procedure itself is quick and minimally painful for the patient. After the operation, you go home immediately, and a check-up is performed the next day. By removing the cellophane, the weakening of vision is stopped, which would inevitably progress, and in most patients, vision also improves. The improvement in vision is greater if the disease is diagnosed early.
Why Ophthalmology Polyclinic Dr. Balog?
We always plan the treatment individually because our Heidelberg SD-OCT device enables the detection of even the most subtle changes. The operation lasts about 30 minutes and is performed under local anesthesia on openings 23G to 25 G. The operation is minimally painful and the patient goes home immediately. We usually end the operations with air or short-term gas, so vision soon returns. Very often patients also have cataracts, so we do a combined procedure and cataract and yellow spot surgeries, which prolongs the procedure for only 10 minutes and the patient does not have to be operated on twice. The operation in our Polyclinic ends with the injection of air or gas into the eye, which temporarily puts pressure on the retina and the yellow spot, allowing a faster return to the previous, normal anatomical shape. The advantage of gas and air is that they come out of the eye on their own after 2 to 4 weeks, so there is no need for additional surgery, such as removing silicone oil.
