The diagnosis of diabetic macular edema with optical coherence tomography (OCT)

Purpose To investigate the characteristics of diabetic macular edema with optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods In this study, OCT was performed on 61 eyes of 37 cases with diabetic macular edema. Results 1. OCT showed two patterns of structural changes in local diabetic macular edema, (1) Local sponge-like retinal swelling( 11 eyes); (2) Local detached neurosensory retina (2 eyes). 2. OCT showed three patterns of structural changes in diffused diabetic macular edema. (1) Diffused sponge-like retinal swelling (12 eyes) ; (2)Retinal detachment involving the sponge-like retinal swelling at the central fovea(7 eyes); (3) OCT showed cystoid macular edema (29 eyes). 3.OCT showed sectional posterior vitreous detachment in 22 eyes and entire posterior detachment in 5 eyes. Conclusion OCT can display the pathologic characteristics in diabetic macular edema. It is potentially useful for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic macular edema.