To study the Efficacy of Grid Laser Photocoagulation on Contrast Sensitivity, Visual Fields and Overall Visual Outcome in Patients with Diabetic Macular Edema: Interventional study

A study was conducted at department of ophthalmology, Government Stanley medical college, Chennai – 600 001 in 102 patients diagnosed with diabetic macular edema. The patients were treated with grid laser and the pre and post grid visual parameters were recorded and compared to test the effect of grid laser on the overall visual outcome. ● In our study, the age of the patients presenting with diabetic macular edema ranged between 41 to 73 years with a mean age being 57.58 years. ● There is a male preponderance of 53%. ● The most common type of NPDR in our study is severe NPDR which accounts to 39.21 % followed by moderate NPDR that accounts to 31.37 % and mild NPDR which accounts for 29.41% ● Out of 102 eyes treated with grid laser, 58 eyes had improvement in BCVA by atleast 1 line, 32 eyes had stable vision and 10 eyes showed worsening by 1 line 2 eyes had worsening by 2 lines. ● The mean difference between the BCVA at baseline and after 3 months of grid laser is 0.11 log MAR units which was found to be a statistically significant improvement. ● A correlation co-efficient of - 0.244 with a P value of 0.133 indicate that there is no significant positive correlation between the visual acuity and contrast sensitivity at 3 months after grid laser. ● Contrast sensitivity function improved in 46 eyes , remained stable in 40 eyes and worsened in 16 eyes at 3 months after grid laser when compared with baseline. ● The mean difference between the contrast sensitivity at baseline and 3 months is 0.09 log units with a P value of