Abstract
Purpose :
To introduce a novel laser photocoagulation (PC) protocol, named the Merged Images of fundus photograph, optical coherence tomography (OCT)-map, and fluorescein angiography (FA) Guided PC (MIG-PC). We compared the anatomic and functional results using the MIG-PC and FA-Guided PC (FG-PC) for the treatment of the focal diabetic macular edema (DME).
Methods :
We examined the outcomes of treatment in 27 consecutive eyes treated with MIG-PC compared to 28 matched eyes treated with FG-PC. We identified the microaneurysms (MAs) located in the focal edema areas, and ablated them with focal PC. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and retinal thickness (RT) measured by OCT were compared between the groups at baseline, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks after treatment.
Results :
The foveal and perifoveal RT was reduced after treatment in both groups, and perifoveal RT in the MIG-PC group was significantly lower than that in the FG-PC group at 4 weeks and thereafter. BCVA in the MIG-PC group was significantly better than that of FG-PC group at 12 and 24 weeks. The number of laser spots (p = 0.0001), additional laser (p = 0.0121), and intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (p = 0.0012) in the MIG-PC group was significantly smaller than those in the FG-PC group (Mann–Whitney test).
Conclusions :
The MIG-PC was contributed to the improvement of BCVA and the reduction of retinal thickness, the number of laser shots required, and the retreatment rates. Based on our data, the MIG-PC should be recommended in the treatment of focal DME.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.