Comparison of the effect of Conventional and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography-guided Laser Photocoagulation on the Treatment of Focal Diabetic Macular Edema

Abstract

Millions of people are diagnosed with diabetes every year, and these people are at risk for visual impairments caused by it. Photocoagulation is used as the standard treatment for diabetic macular edema. The purpose of this comparison is to evaluate the effect of laser photocoagulation in the conventional method with laser photocoagulation with OCT angiography in the treatment of focal macular edema caused by diabetes. Methods and Materials: In this clinical trial study, patients entered the study if they met the inclusion criteria. They were divided into two groups randomly. In the first group, patients undergo macular laser treatment without performing OCT-A. The goal is to change the color slightly to light gray in the laser-treated areas. In the second group, after performing OCT-A and determining the location of microaneurysms, they undergo laser therapy with the size of 50 micrometers with an intensity between 80 to 150 are used in the areas of microaneurysms. The goal is to change the light gray color at the location of microaneurysms. Patients are followed up two times after laser treatment at intervals of two and six months, including BCVA measurement and OCT image taking. After collecting the data, they were analyzed statistically. Results: 36 patients with CSME with a mean age of 60.56± 7.82 were included in this study. Comparison of visual acuity after laser photocoagulation treatment showed a significant difference between the two groups, with OCT-A guide and without OCT-A. The improvement of visual acuity was significantly better in the OCT-A guide group. P = 0.02 and changes in macular thickness following laser treatment with photocoagulation showed no significant difference between the two methods with OCT-A guide and without OCT-A. P = 0.14 After laser treatment with photocoagulation, visual acuity was significantly different from the baseline method with the OCT-A guide. P = 0.001 Reduction of macular thickness following laser treatment with conventional photocoagulation method and with OCT-A guide was significantly different from baseline. P = 0.01