Short-term Efficacy of Micropulse Yellow Laser in Non-center-involving Diabetic Macular Edema: Preliminary Results

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of micropulse yellow laser (MPL) on best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and retinal thickness in patients with non-center-involving diabetic macular edema (DME). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 9 eyes of 8 patients with non-center-involving DME who underwent MPL treatment between January 2015 and December 2016. BCVA (logMAR) and retinal thickness were evaluated before and 3 months after treatment. Maximum retinal thickness was determined manually from simultaneous spectral-domain optical coherence tomography images and recorded. The change in the measurements from before to after treatment was analyzed statistically. RESULTS: Of the 8 patients, 3 were female and 5 were male. The mean age was 52.8 years. Two of the 9 eyes had received previous intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection(s). Median BCVA was improved 3 months after treatment, although the difference was not statistically significant (0.34 logMAR before and 0.29 logMAR after treatment). BCVA was improved in 4 eyes while it showed no change in the remaining 5 eyes. The mean retinal thickness was 470.6 μm at baseline and 416 μm at 3 months after MPL treatment (p=0.01). Retinal thickness decreased in all eyes after treatment. CONCLUSION: In this study, parafoveal retinal thickness showed significant decrease after MPL treatment in patients with DME. The limited increase in BCVA may be due to the inclusion of a low number of patients and only those with non-center-involving macular edema. MPL may be used as an alternative to conventional argon laser in non-center-involving DME.