Diabetic macular edema: New promising therapies

Figure 1 Horizontal spectral-domain optical coherence tomography scans of the macula before (A) and after (B) 1 mg of intravitreal triamcinolone therapy in a patient with diabetic macular edema in the right eye. Four months following treatment, the macular edema almost completely resolved (B). The Snellen visual acuity improved from 20/200 to 20/60.

Figure 2 Horizontal spectral-domain optical coherence tomography scans of the macula before (A and B) and after (C and D) intravitreal bevacizumab therapy in a patient with diabetic macular edema. Note extensive cystoid macular edema in both eyes (A and B) and subretinal fluid in the right (A). Six months following treatment with 3 injections of bevacizumab, the macular edema almost completely resolved in both eyes (C and D). The Snellen visual acuity improved from 20/125 to 20/70 in the right eye, but did not change significantly in the left, likely due to atrophic changes in the outer retina as seen on optical coherence tomography.

Figure 3 Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography scans of the macula before (A) and after (B) pars plana vitrectomy in a patient with diabetic macular edema in the left eye. Note the focal vitreomacular adhesion with associated cystoid macular edema and intraretinal hard exudates. Seven months following surgery, the macular edema completely resolved (B), but the Snellen visual acuity was not changed and measured 20/400 likely due to atrophic changes in the outer retina as seen on optical coherence tomography.