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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Quantitative Fundus Autofluorescence for the Evaluation of Retinal Diseases
Published on: March 11, 2016
[Fundus autofluorescence. Has it a place in the management of diabetic macular edema?]
1Service d'ophtalmologie, CHU Mohamed Taher Maamouri de Nabeul, Mrezgua, 8000 Nabeul, Tunisie.
Purpose:
Analyze the characteristics of fundus autofluorescence of diabetic macular edema and study the association between these characteristics and visual function.
Patients And Methods:
Our study included 18 patients (28 eyes) with clinically significant diabetic macular edema. All patients had a complete eye examination with a fundus autofluorescence imaging and optical coherence tomography. The central macular thickness and central macular volume were measured. The integrity of the inner segment-outer segment junction and the integrity of the external limiting membrane were also evaluated in the same area.
Results:
Among the 28 eyes studied, 8 had normal autofluorescence. The remaining 20 eyes had abnormal autofluorescence: a hyper-cystoid autofluorescence in 5 eyes (25%), hyper-spot autofluorescence in 8 eyes (40%), and hypo-irregular autofluorescence in 5 eyes (25%). Best corrected visual acuity was significantly better in patients with normal autofluorescence and those with hyper-cystoid autofluorescence. There was no significant difference in central macular thickness (P=0.186) and central macular volume (P=0.191) between the four groups.
Conclusion:
The autofluorescence is a simple, fast, and non-invasive technique for the study of diabetic macular edema with good correlation to the visual function as well as to the extent of damage to the retina. It is, therefore, a possible alternative to other invasive imaging techniques in particular in the long term monitoring of diabetic macular edema.
