Clinical Pathology of Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Edema

Diabetic retinopathy and macular edema is multifactorial complex disease, VEGF can play central role in nonchronic diabetic macular edema pathogenesis and VEGF blockade agents may improve vision, where in chronic diabetic macular edema inflammatory cytokines are the main driver of edema and intravitreal steroids may result in edema resolution, however vascular element is not always the cause of macular thickening and visual loss from nonvascular elements such as vitreomacular abnormalities which needs to be managed surgically, while diabetic retinopathy can be non-proliferative or proliferative in the presence of neovascularization which they managed by pan retinal laser photocoagulation and proliferation can complicate in to tractoinal retinal detachment and vitreous hemorrhage, which may require surgical management in certain cases.