Laser treatment in diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of visual impairment and
blindness in developed countries due to macular edema and
proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). For both complications
laser treatment may offer proven therapy: the Diabetic Retinopathy
Study demonstrated that panretinal scatter photocoagulation reduces
the risk of severe visual loss by >= 50% in eyes with high-risk
characteristics. Pan-retinal scatter coagulation may also be
beneficial in other PDR and severe nonproliferative diabetic
retinopathy (NPDR) under certain conditions. For clinically
significant macular edema the Early Treatment of Diabetic
Retinopathy Study could show that immediate focal laser
photocoagulation reduces the risk of moderate visual loss by at
least 50%. When and how to perform laser treatment is described in
detail, offering a proven treatment for many problems associated
with diabetic retinopathy based on a high evidence level. Copyright
(c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.