Evaluation of retinal thickness in macular region in diabetic patients with RTA analyzer

Introduction
Aim of the study is an evaluation of the anatomic state of retina in the macular region in diabetic patients with various stages of retinopathy by using RTA analyzer, and an assessment of applicability of this method in early diagnosis of diabetic macular edema.

Material and methods
Forty diabetic patients (68 eyes) underwent full ophthalmologic examination and also retinal thickness analysis with RTA analyzer. In particular, foveal average thickness FAV and posterior pole average thickness PPAV were determined. The data were statistically evaluated.

Results
Both FAV and PPAV are strongly correlated with the eyeground state and increased with increasing the severity of retinopathy and macular edema. The patients with minimal and mild nonproliferative retinopathy without any visible macular edema showed an increased retinal thickness when compared both with diabetic patients without any retinopathy and with control patients. The thickness was however lower than that in patients with diabetic macular edema.

Conclusions
The eyes with minimal and mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy without any visible macular edema should be examined by some independent methods, like RTA. The method can be recommended for screening the macular edema in diabetic patients.