PURPOSE OF REVIEW New treatment modalities for branch retinal vein occlusion have recently been introduced. The role of intravitreal bevacizumab injections will be discussed and compared with laser photocoagulation and other novel intravitreal pharmacotherapies. RECENT FINDINGS Argon laser photocoagulation is the single treatment for branch retinal vein occlusion that has been shown to reduce...

In May 2008, a 21-year-old single, non-obese, diabetic lady was referred to our clinic for routine eye examinations. The patient had been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus three months earlier and was receiving 100 milligrams of metformin daily and 80 milligrams of gliclazide twice daily orally, consistently maintaining her blood glucose levels between 72-90 mg/dl. She had a positive family hist...

A control trial is reported which demonstrates that treatment with argon laser photocoagulation to certain patients with macular oedema following a branch vein occlusion does not alter significantly their visual prognosis. It confirms that patients with an intact perifoveal capillary arcade have a better prognosis than those with a broken arcade.

PURPOSE To evaluate the efficacy of arteriovenous (AV) sheathotomy with internal limiting membrane peeling for persistent or recurrent macular edema after intravitreal triamcinolone injection and/or laser photocoagulation in branch retinal vein occlusion. METHODS Twenty-two eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) with recurrent macular edema underwent vitrectomy with AV sheathotomy and...

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among individuals of working age in industrialized nations, with most of the vision loss resulting from diabetic macular edema (DME). The formation of DME depends on the action of several growth factors and inflammatory mediators, but vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) appears to be critical for breaking down the blood-retinal barrie...

OBJECTIVE To perform a patient preference-based, incremental cost-effectiveness analysis for laser treatment of subfoveal choroidal neovascularization. DESIGN Computer-based econometric modeling. METHODS The cost effectiveness of laser photocoagulation therapy was compared with the natural course of subfoveal choroidal neovascularization. The model applied long-term visual data from previou...

The exudative form of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is associated with a particularly poor visual prognosis and accounts for 88% of ARMD sufferers who are registered blind.' In this disease, characteristic changes occur in the posterior pole of the eye within the confines of the macula which is the region of the retina responsible for central vision. When visual loss results from prog...

AIMS To determine whether indocyanine green (ICG) guided laser photocoagulation of occult choroidal neovascularisations (OCNV) is beneficial for patients with occult choroidal neovascularisation secondary to age related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS A prospective pilot study was performed in 21 eyes with OCNV secondary to AMD that could be identified extrafoveolarly or juxtafoveolarly i...

EDITOR,—Cystoid macular oedema is a well known complication of chronic uveitis and is the major cause of visual disability accounting for 29% of blindness and 41% of visual impairment in this group. ±Therapy consists of control of inflammation with both topical and systemic agents. Symptomatic treatment with acetazolamide orally and grid laser photocoagulation have been shown to reduce cystoid ...

Diabetic retinopathy is fast emerging as a leading cause of newly diagnosed legal blindness amongst the working population. Macular edema, as it is commoner, accounts for more vision impairment than neovascular proliferation in diabetic patients. Laser photocoagulation, which is the standard treatment of macular edema, is associated with significant complications and an improvement in visual ac...