EFFICACY OF DIODE-LASER FOR MANAGING DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of photocoagulation for diabetic macul ar oedema using Diode laser in a prospective randomized fashion and co mparing its effects with the Argon green laser. Methods: 40 eyes with focal and diffuse oedema were randomly treated with Diode and 40 eyes were treated with Argon green. Following investigations were performed : visual acuity, fundus evaluation, flourescein angiography and visual fields. Results: 79% treated with Diode had partial to complete regre ssion of oedema and so also 82% with Argon green at six months post la ser. Conclusions: There was no difference in improvement or worsening of visual acuity between the two lasers. This study is of importance a s it has been the first prospective randomized study of its kind using Diode laser in diabetic macular oedema.