Increased macular blood flow in diabetic macular edema was normalized after vitrectomy in eyes with resolved macular edema. Changes of macular blood flow may be associated with the resolution of macular edema in diabetic eyes.
Background: To evaluate macular microcirculation in patients with unilateral diffuse diabetic macular edema (DME) in order to determine whether the alteration in macular microcirculation is associated with development of diffuse DME without vitreomacular traction. Methods: According to the presence of epiretinal membrane (ERM), 27 patients having unilateral diffuse DME were divided into DME without ERM (non-ERM-DME group, n = 12) and with ERM (ERM-DME group, n = 15). Twelve patients with macular edema associated with unilateral branch vein obstruction (BVO) and 10 nondiabetic healthy subjects were enrolled as controls. Macular blood flow measured by Heidelberg retinal flowmeter was compared between the edematous eye and the nonedematous fellow eye of each patient and between groups. The macular thickness was evaluated with optical coherence tomography. Results: The mean macular blood flow was significantly higher than that of the contralateral eyes in edematous eyes of non-ERM-DME group (798.8 vs. 379.8 AU, p < 0.001). By contrast, in the ERM-DME group, the mean macular blood flow of DME eyes was similar to that of fellow eyes (575.9 vs. 596.4 AU, p = 0.538). The macular capillary blood flow in patients with BVO was not significantly different compared with nondiabetic controls (p = 0.967). Conclusions: The results suggest that the alteration of macular microcirculation may play a role in the pathogenesis of diffuse DME without vitreomacular traction.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.