Treatment of diabetic macular edema: a comparison between argon and dye lasers

Abstract

To compare the efficacy of argon green and dye yellow photocoagulations, 85 eyes of 85 diabetic patients with diffuse macular edema were included in a prospective randomized clinical trial. One year after treatment, visual acuity was unchanged or better in 85.1% of eyes treated with an argon and 89.5% of eyes treated with a dye laser. A reduction of macular edema was accomplished in 67.3% of eyes in the argon-laser group and in 71.1% of eyes in the dye-laser group. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in regard to visual acuity results or the reduction of macular edema.