Correlation between Diabetic Macular Edema and Best Corrected Visual Acuity in Different Categories of Diabetic Retinopathy

Abstract

Background: Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a major cause of vision loss in the working age population and people with diabetes are 25 times more likely than the general population to go blind. Aim of Study: To correlate the Best-Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) by ETDRS protocol with macular thickness measurement and morphology as obtained by OCT in a series of patients with diabetic macular edema, with or without diabetic retinopathy. Patients and Methods: Cross sectional design, in total 102 of 51 selected Egyptian diabetic subjects, 20 males and 31 females were selected by convenient sample in the study during the period from Mars. 2018 to December 2018, all procedures were done at National Institute Of Diabetes And Endocrinology. Eyes enrolled in the study were divided into three groups as follows: Group 1: Eyes with DME and non clinically detectable DR, Group 2: Eyes with DME and NPDR, Group 3: Eyes with DME and PDR. Results: In the present study,we found that the Diffuse Spongy Macular Edema (DSME) was the most common type of DME, we found a highly significant negative correlation between the CMT and BCVA. There was a significant correlation between the OCT pattern of DME and the severity of diabetic retinopathy. We also found a statistically significant decrease in BCVA in eyes with PDR in comparison to eyes with NPDR and eyes with no clinically detectable diabetic retinopathy. Conclusion: Based on the data in our study, diffuse spongy macular edema was the most common type of DME with the least CMT and the highest BCVA, we also found the worst BCVA in PDR.