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Study: Vitrectomy may reduce foveal thickness in DME
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GUNMA, Japan — Vitrectomy may be effective for treating diabetic macular edema, according to a study here. Eyes that underwent the procedure had significantly decreased foveal thickness compared to unoperated fellow eyes, the authors stated.
Researchers with the Gunma University School of Medicine enrolled seven patients who had the same degree and duration of diabetic macular edema in both eyes in a nonrandomized trial. Patients were followed for more than 5 months after unilateral vitrectomy
Preoperatively diffuse macular edema was observed in all 14 eyes and cystoid macular edema was observed in 13 eyes. Cystoid spaces were observed in 13 of 14 eyes and a serous retinal detachment in seven eyes. The researchers compared preoperative and postoperative foveal thickness and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA).
In the seven eyes that underwent surgery, the foveal thickness decreased from 622 µm to 269 µm (P = .027). The fellow eyes had an average decrease in foveal thickness of 617 µm to 546 µm. BCVA in the eyes that underwent surgery improved more than 2 lines in four eyes (57%) and remained the same in three eyes. Only one eye in the fellow group gained more than 2 lines of visual acuity, and three eyes lost more than 2 lines.
The study is published in the August issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology.