Quantitative assessment of retinal thickness in diabetic patients with and without clinically significant macular edema using optical coherence tomography.
OBJECTIVE
To assess patients with diabetic macular edema quantitatively using optical coherence tomography (OCT).


METHODS
OCT was performed in 14 eyes with diabetic retinopathy and ophthalmoscopic evidence of clinically significant macular edema (CSME) and in 19 diabetic eyes without CSME. Retinal thickness was computed from the tomograms at fovea and other 36 locations throughout the macula.


RESULTS
The mean +/- standard deviation foveal thickness was 255.6 +/- 138.9 microm in eyes with CSME, and 174.6 +/- 38.2 microm in eyes without CSME (p = 0.051). Within 2000 microm of the center of the macula, eyes with CSME had significantly thicker retina in the inferior quadrant than those without CSME (p < 0.01). The foveal thickness was correlated with logMAR visual acuity (gamma = 0.68, p < 0.01). OCT identified sponge-like retinal swelling and/or cystoid macular edema in 11 (58%) eyes without CSME, and in 12 (86%) eyes with CSME.


CONCLUSIONS
Criteria of CSME seem to be insufficient in really identifying macular edema. OCT may be more sensitive than a clinical examination in assessing diabetic macular edema and is a quantitative tool for documenting changes in macular thickening.
Yang
C S
CS
Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Cheng
C Y
CY
Lee
F L
FL
Hsu
W M
WM
Liu
J H
JH
D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007368:Interferometry; D008027:Light; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014054:Tomography / Q000379:methods; D014792:Visual Acuity