Open AccessCombined therapy for diabetic macular edema
Author(s) -
Saba Al Rashaed,
J. Fernando Arévalo
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
middle east african journal of ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.357
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 0975-1599
pISSN - 0974-9233
DOI - 10.4103/0974-9233.120014
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetic macular edema , ranibizumab , ophthalmology , macular edema , visual acuity , triamcinolone acetonide , bevacizumab , pharmacotherapy , aflibercept , diabetic retinopathy , surgery , diabetes mellitus , chemotherapy , endocrinology
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the main cause of visual impairment in diabetic patients. Macular edema within 1 disk diameter of the fovea is present in 9% of the diabetic population. The management of DME is complex and often multiple treatment approaches are needed. This review demonstrates the benefits of intravitreal triamcinolone, bevacizumab and ranibizumab as adjunctive therapy to macular laser treatment in DME. The published results indicate that intravitreal injections of these agents may have a beneficial effect on macular thickness and visual acuity, independent of the type of macular edema that is present. Therefore, pharmacotherapy could complement focal/grid laser photocoagulation in the management of DME. For this review, we performed a literature search and summarized recent findings regarding combined therapy for DME.