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Photobiomodulation in the treatment of patients with non-center-involving diabetic macular oedema
  1. Johnny Tang1,2,
  2. Ashley A Herda1,
  3. Timothy S Kern2,3
  1. 1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA
  2. 2Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
  3. 3Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Johnny Tang, KU Eye, 7400 State Line Road, Prairie Village, KS, 66208; USA; jtang{at}kumc.edu

Abstract

Purpose Far-red/near-infrared phototherapy or photobiomodulation (PBM) has recently been reported to be an effective and non-invasive treatment method to inhibit lesions of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in animals. This study investigated the safety and efficacy of PBM in diabetic patients to treat non-center-involving diabetic macular oedema (NCDME).

Methods This was a non-randomised, consecutive, case series, where 4 patients with type 2 diabetes with NCDME were treated for 160 s per day with PBM for 2–9 months. Demographic data including age, sex, HbA1c%, electronic ETDRS visual acuity, and retinal and macular thickness were measured using spectral domain ocular coherence tomography (SD-OCT) before and after treatment.

Results Four eyes of 4 patients were treated, with fellow eyes serving as untreated controls. Daily PBM treatment for only 80 s per treatment twice daily caused a significant reduction in focal retinal thickening in all 4 treated eyes. No adverse effects attributable to therapy were noted by the patients or study investigators during the study period.

Conclusions PBM potentially offers a non-invasive and cost-effective therapeutic option for patients with NCDME. Further studies of this therapeutic option in DR are warranted

  • Treatment other
  • Retina

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