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Selective retinal therapy stabilizes, improves vision in diabetic maculopathy, study finds
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Selective retinal therapy was found to be a safe and effective treatment for focal diabetic maculopathy, according to a poster presentation here.
Study author Hanno Elsner, MD, and colleagues reported that selective retinal therapy (SRT) is safer than conventional argon laser therapy because SRT selectively targets degenerative retinal pigment epithelial cells without damaging the surrounding retinal structures.
“It offers the potential for earlier treatment and the possibility of treating closer to the fovea without the side effects associated with conventional [treatment],” the study authors said in their poster at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting. In a study of 60 patients, with 6 months’ follow-up, SRT reduced retinal thickness and lesion leakage, preserving or improving visual acuity in 88.7% of patients.
Patients underwent SRT treatment with a frequency-doubled, Q-switched Nd:YLF laser, which emitted 30 pulses at a repetition rate of 100 Hz. At 3- and 6-month follow-ups, retinal thickness decreased from 244 µm to 230 µm in the fovea, and 351 µm to 330 µm in the edematous macular area. Lesion leakage remained stable in more than half of the patients.