Background: Diabetic macular oedema is the leading causes of blindness. Laser photocoagulation reduces the risk\r\nof visual loss. However recurrences are common and despite laser treatment, patients with diabetic macular\r\noedema experienced progressive loss of vision. Stabilization of the blood retinal barrier introduces a rationale for\r\nintravitreal triamcinolone treatment in diabetic macular oedema. This study is intended to compare the best\r\ncorrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the macular oedema index (MEI) at 3 month of primary treatment for diabetic\r\nmacular oedema between intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) and laser photocoagulation.\r\nMethods: This comparative pilot study consists of 40 diabetic patients with diabetic macular oedema. The patients\r\nwere randomized into two groups using envelope technique sampling procedure. Treatment for diabetic macular\r\noedema was based on the printed envelope technique selected for every patient. Twenty patients were assigned\r\nfor IVTA group (one injection of IVTA) and another 20 patients for LASER group (one laser session). Main outcome\r\nmeasures were mean BCVA and mean MEI at three months post treatment. The MEI was quantified using\r\nHeidelberg Retinal Tomography II.\r\nResults: The mean difference for BCVA at baseline [IVTA: 0.935 (0.223), LASER: 0.795 (0.315)] and at three months\r\npost treatment [IVTA: 0.405 (0.224), LASER: 0.525 (0.289)] between IVTA and LASER group was not statistically\r\nsignificant (p = 0.113 and p = 0.151 respectively). The mean difference for MEI at baseline [IVTA: 2.539 (0.914),\r\nLASER: 2.139 (0.577)] and at three months post treatment [IVTA: 1.753 (0.614), LASER: 1.711 (0.472)] between IVTA\r\nand LASER group was also not statistically significant (p = 0.106 and p = 0.811 respectively).\r\nConclusions: IVTA demonstrates good outcome comparable to laser photocoagulation as a primary treatment for\r\ndiabetic macular oedema at three months post treatment.
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