Pars plana vitrectomy in diabetic macular edema.
OBJECTIVE
To ascertain the association between the improvement of diabetic macular edema and increased visual acuity after pars plana vitrectomy.


METHODS
From January 1994 to December 1996 we prospectively studied 18 patients (18 eyes, 7 women and 11 men, mean age 52 years, range 37-68) with type II diabetes and clinically significant macular edema. One group was composed of 9 patients presenting diffuse macular edema (DME); a second group with 9 patients presented cystoid macular edema (CME). All patients underwent pars plana vitrectomy.


RESULTS
Preoperative Snellen visual acuity was 20/143 in DME and 20/441 in CME. In both groups vision increased to 20/136 and 20/205, respectively, postoperatively. For the DME this difference was statistically significant (p<0.05) at 1 month after the surgery, but vision decreased again after 10 months reaching preoperative values.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that pars plana vitrectomy for diabetic macular edema may increase visual acuity in diffuse macular edema, although this increase is only short lived.
Micelli Ferrari
T
T
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bari, Italy.
Cardascia
N
N
Durante
G
G
Vetrugno
M
M
Cardia
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D006801:Humans; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014821:Vitrectomy / Q000379:methods*