Comparison of the Clinical Diagnosis of Diabetic Macular Edema with Diagnosis by Retinal Thickness Analyzer

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the correlation between diabetic macular edema diagnosed with stereoscopic slit-lamp and retinal thickness analyzer (RTA). METHODS: Diabetic macular edema diagnosed with stereoscopic slit-lamp was compared to indices of RTA in 50 eyes of 32 persons which were diagnosed clinically with diabetic retinopathy. RESULTS: From stereoscopic slit-lamp results, diabetic macular edema was present in 39 of 50 eyes, and absent in 11 of 50. Foveal average thickness out of the RTA indices was 209.7+/-58.5 micrometer from observing diabetic macular edema clinically and 199.4+/-47.3 micrometer from not observing diabetic macular edema clinically. Statistically significant differences were found in average foveal thickness between the 2 groups (p=0.013). CONCLUSIONS: RTA appears to serve as a useful and sensitive tool for the diagnosis of diabetic macular edema.