Argon laser photocoagulation treatment of diabetic cystoid maculopathy

Forty-one patients with diabetic cystoid macular edema were treated with argon laser photocoagulation and followed for a mean period of 22 months. The fellow eye was held as control. In the treated group (33 eyes), 6 had an improvement in visual acuity (greater than 2 lines), 19 had visual acuity which remained the same (+/- 1 line), and 8 had a decrease in visual acuity (more than 2 lines). In the control group (33 eyes untreated), 18 had a visual acuity which remained the same, one had an improvement in visual acuity (greater than 2 lines) and 14 had a decrease (greater than 2 lines) in visual acuity. The control eyes of 14 patients were treated because of significant reduction in visual acuity. Although the general tendency toward stabilization in the treated group and toward deterioration in the untreated group was definitely observed, statistical evaluation did not show a significant difference between the 2 groups. Occasionally, patients with cystoid in the control eye cleared spontaneously without treatment.