Pars Plana Vitrectomy with Internal Limiting Membrane Peeling for Treatment-Naïve Diabetic Macular Edema: A Prospective, Uncontrolled Pilot Study

PURPOSE: To report the outcomes in subjects undergoing pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling for the management of treatment-naïve diabetic macular edema (DME). METHODS: Ten treatment-naïve subjects with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy prospectively underwent PPV with ILM peeling for the treatment of DME at a single university-affiliated institution. The preoperative features, intraoperative details and postoperative outcomes were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: All 10 subjects underwent PPV with ILM peeling without significant intraoperative or postoperative complications at 6 months follow-up. Visual acuity improved from a baseline of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.48–1.0) logMAR (Snellen 20/110) to 0.46 (95% CI: 0.3–0.62) logMAR (Snellen 20/58) at 6 months follow-up (p=0.045). Optical coherence tomography central macular thickness reduced from a baseline of 456 (95% CI: 394.7–516.4) microns to 316.8 (95% CI: 275.9–357.7) microns at 6 months follow-up (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This pilot study suggests that PPV with ILM peeling may be a viable treatment option for the management of treatment naïve DME in subjects with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Development of a randomized controlled trial may be justified to validate the results of this study. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER #: NCT03660345.