Posted , 4 users are following.
I have a mild epiretinal membrane and the beginnings of PCO. Although, my doctor does not think I need to do the YAG yet, I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with YAG and how it effects the epiretinal membrane.
0 likes, 8 replies
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soks esa77583
Posted
When did you have your surgery? How old are you? Younger folks are more prone to PCO. 40% of all cataract surgery patients get PCO. YAG increases risk of retina detachment again more so in younger patients. My mother got PCO 7 years after surgery (age at YAG was 49) and her retina detached immediately after. The IOL cannot be replaced or is tough to replace after the YAG as the vitreous is exposed. After YAG some people notice more floaters which are the fragments of the capsule that is removed. With time these settle down. Cruciate method of YAG is preferred to reduce the incidence of floaters after YAG. Good luck!
Sue.An esa77583
Posted
You may want to see a retina specialist for a consult (unless your current doctor is one).
I haven't experienced this but did find a very interesting article i REVIEW OF OPHTHALMOLOGY that was interesting (although lengthy). Published May 2018.
Hoping link will work:
https://www.reviewofophthalmology.com/article/pco-whats-wrong-with-doing-a-yag
soks Sue.An
Posted
I found this interesting:
"Dr. Koch puts the rate of PCO development at five to seven years postop at “probably 75 percent".
esa77583 Sue.An
Posted
I have already left a message for my retina specialist. My surgeon said I do not need the YAG yet, I just wanted to know if the YAG can make the epiretinal membrane worse, which up to now has been fairly stable and has not affected my vision so far. I am also wondering how fast the PCO progreeses and if there is a chance it may never progress. As of now, I can not even tell there is PCO there.
esa77583
Posted
progresses* sorry for the typo.
Sue.An soks
Posted
Me too lots of insightful info in that article. Seems skilled surgeons also help with PCO prevention at time of cataract surgery not just IOL type. Of interest too is that often PCO misdiagnosed and YAG performed which doesn't help the patient as it's really negative or positive dysphotopsias that's at play.
Sue.An
Posted
I have seen a number of people post about YAG not helping their vision so now I wonder if it wasn't PCO preventing good vision. Shame surgeons don't take extra precaution because that renders an IOL exchange nearly impossible and if the negative and positive dysphotopsias doesn't go away often a person might want to consider a different lens.
Sue.An esa77583
Posted
Hoping others will weigh in. My own surgeries were 18 months ago and I haven't experienced pco. My surgeon said about 25 percent of people get it but that article I posted indicated 75 percent of people get pco at 5 to 7 years after surgery. My thoughts are cataract patients now younger. Not to be morbid but years ago more were in their 80s so the data on when pco occurs later wouldn't be available if patients life span after surgery didn't exceed 7 years. At 53 I may well have pco at 60.
My opinion (I am a patient like you - no expertise) but I would not have a yag until it affected my vision regardless if my surgeon said I had pco. Same logic I use for cataracts - don't have surgery until your vision is worse than 20/40 and can no longer be corrected with glasses.
A yag they say has minimal risk but that doesn't mean zero risk.
Your retina specialist will be best person to listen to of whether your condition will worsen with a yag or not.