EVALUATION OF DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA AND ITS TYPES IN RELATION TO RETINAL ISCHEMIA AND CENTRAL MACULAR THICKNESS WITH ULTRA-WIDEFIELD FUNDUS ANGIOGRAPHY

Servet YAŞAR, Nazmiye EROL, Mustafa BİLGEC, Erdogan YASAR, Iasmina YASAR

Retina-Vitreus - 2026;35(2):116-123

Prof Dr Munteanu Opthalmic Center, Göz Hastalıkları, Timişoara, Romania

 

Purpose: We aim to investigate the relationship between macular edema and its types, retinal ischemia, and central macular thickness in patients with Diabetic Macular Edema(DME) using Ultra-Widefield Fundus Angiography (UWFA). Material and Methods: In this prospective study, patients diagnosed with DME between January 2014 and November 2015 were enrolled. A total of 68 eyes from 42 patients with DME were included in the study.. Central macular thickness(CMT) was measured after detailed eye examination.. Total retinal and ischemic retinal areas were measured with UWFA, and the retinal ischemic index (RII) was calculated. Eyes with DME were classified into diffuse and focal based on UWFA. Results: Retinal ischemia was detected in 54 out of 68 eyes with DME (79.4%). Among the eyes with DME, 34 had diffüz DME and 34 had focal DME. In the 34 eyes with diffuse DME, retinal ischemia was found in 31 (91.1%), while in the 34 eyes with focal DME, retinal ischemia was detected in 23 (67.6%) eyes. Eyes with diffuse DME were found to have a 4.94 times higher risk of retinal ischemia (p=0.036). Correlation analysis between RII and CMT did not reveal the relationship for both diffuse and focal ME (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our study will contribute to the etiopathogenesis of DME, as retinal ischemia was found to be significantly higher in diffuse type edema than in focal type, and there is no correlation between RII and CMT in both diffuse and focal type edema.