[Clinical observation of vitrectomy for treatment of diffuse nontraditional diabetic macular edema]

To evaluate the efficacy of vitrectomy combined with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling in the treatment of diffuse nontraditional diabetic macular edema.

It was a retrospective case series study. Clinical records of 21 consecutive patients (21 eyes) with diffuse diabetic macular edema without macular traction were reviewed. All patients underwent pars plana vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling. Main outcome measurements included pre- and postoperative optical coherence tomography (OCT) and visual acuity.

Postoperative follow-up ranged from 12 to 24 months (mean, 16.3 months). Mean preoperative foveal thickness significantly decreased from (406 ± 59) µm to (291 ± 67) µm at 1 months after surgery (t = 9.26, P < 0.01), and further decreased to (280 ± 77) µm at 12 months (t = 9.46, P < 0.01). No differences in visual acuity between preoperative and postoperative were found during follow-up periods. The final best-corrected visual acuity improved in 8 (38.1%) of the 21 eyes, remained unchanged in 11 eyes (52.4%), and decreased in 2 eyes (9.5%).

Pars plana vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling appears to be beneficial in eyes with diffuse nontraditional diabetic macular edema in retinal thickness but visual acuity outcomes showed only minimal improvement as compared to the baseline.