[Internal limiting membrane peeling in vitreous surgery for diabetic macular edema].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling in vitreous surgery for diabetic macular edema.


METHODS
This study was done on 135 eyes of 103 patients who all underwent diabetic macular edema surgery under the same surgeon. The subjects were 74 eyes of 55 males and 61 eyes of 48 females, aged 35-81 years, with an average of 62 years. The postoperative follow-up period ranged from 12 to 39 months, with an average of 20 months. The ILM peeling was performed in 74 eyes. The subjects were divided in two types of macular edema from the presence (type II, 81 eyes) or absence (type I, 54 eyes) of hard exudates in the macular region. We evaluated the effects of the ILM peeling on the absorption rate of macular edema, the period required for absorption of macular edema, and the postoperative visual acuity.


RESULTS
The absorption rate of macular edema was more than 90% with or without the ILM peeling. The period required for absorption of macular edema in eyes with ILM peeling was shorter in type II. There was no difference in the postoperative visual acuity with or without ILM peeling. ILM peeling was not an important factor for the postoperative visual acuity.


RESULTS
ILM peeling accelerates the absorption of edema in more severe diabetic macular edema, but we could not find any improvement of visual acuity.
Kumagai
Kazuyuki
K
Shinjo Ophthalmologic Institute, 899 Mego, Shimokitakata, Miyazaki 880-0035, Japan.
Ogino
Nobuchika
N
Furukawa
Mariko
M
Demizu
Seiji
S
Atsumi
Kazunari
K
Kurihara
Hideyuki
H
Iwaki
Masayoshi
M
Ishigooka
Hitoshi
H
Tachi
Naoko
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000601:surgery*; D004487:Edema / Q000601:surgery; D019773:Epiretinal Membrane / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000601:surgery*