Optical Coherence Tomographic Patterns of Diabetic Macular Edema
Accepted 7 April 2006. published online 06 June 2006.
Purpose
To describe various morphologic patterns of diabetic macular edema (DME) demonstrated by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and correlate them with visual acuity.
Design
Retrospective, observational, case series.
Methods
A retrospective review of all patients with DME who underwent OCT evaluation and met the study inclusion criteria between May 1998 and December 2002 at the Cole Eye Institute was performed. The OCT scans were evaluated for the presence of diffuse retinal thickening (DRT), cystoid macular edema (CME), posterior hyaloidal traction (PHT), serous retinal detachment (SRD), and traction retinal detachment (TRD). Additionally, the retinal thickness was measured and visual acuity evaluated.
Results
Two hundred seventy-six OCT scans of 164 eyes of 119 patients were identified. OCT revealed five morphologic patterns of DME: DRT (269, 97%), CME (152, 55%), SRD without PHT (19, 7.0%), PHT without TRD (35, 12.7%), and PHT with TRD (8, 2.9%). Mean retinal thickness varied depending on the morphologic pattern. The mean visual acuities (Snellen equivalent) also varied between groups. Increasing retinal thickness in all patterns was significantly correlated with worse visual acuity (P < .005). The OCT patterns containing CME (P = .01) and PHT without TRD (P = .02) were also significantly associated with worse vision.
Conclusions
DME exhibits at least five different morphologic patterns on OCT. There is a significant correlation between retinal thickness and visual acuity.
Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio.
Inquiries to Peter K. Kaiser, MD, Digital OCT Reading Center, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Desk 2, Cleveland, OH 44195
Research grant support from Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio (P.K.K.).
ABSTRACT