Current treatments of diabetic macular edema

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a major cause of visual impairment in diabetic patients. Laser photocoagulation is the standard management strategy for macular edema, but its results remain unsatisfactory. Several clinical trials of new treatment modalities for DME have been conducted over the past 10 years. We performed a literature search of English articles, published between 2000 and 2010, by using the PubMed database. The keywords searched included "diabetic macular edema and treatment" with limits set to include only clinical trials and review articles, over 50 articles were reviewed. Among the newer treatment modalities reviewed, therapy with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibodies showed significantly better efficacy, with level I evidence. However, multiple injections were required to maintain its efficacy. Therefore, the associated complications and cost implications are the major limitations of this treatment. Several combinations of different modalities have been evaluated in the literature, but none are more efficacious than monotherapy with anti-VEGF antibodies. Since DME is a multifactorial disease, further studies involving combinations of modalities or new treatments modalities may be needed to reduce the number of injections required or improve the visual outcomes in case of DME.