TREATMENT OF DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA - A COMPARISON BETWEEN ARGON AND DYE-LASERS

To compare the efficacy of argon green and dye yellow photocoagulation s, 85 eyes of 85 diabetic patients with diffuse macular edema were inc luded in a prospective randomized clinical trial. One year after treat ment, visual acuity was unchanged or better in 85.1% of eyes treated w ith an argon and 89.5% of eyes treated with a dye laser. A reduction o f macular edema was accomplished in 67.3% of eyes in the argon-laser g roup and in 71.1% of eyes in the dye-laser group. No statistically sig nificant differences were observed between the two groups in regard to visual acuity results or the reduction of macular edema.