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Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background/aim: To evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of nondamaging retinal laser therapy (NRT) for retinitis pigmentosa-associated cystoid macular edema (RP-CME) and analyze anatomical and functional outcomes.

Materials and methods: A retrospective case series of 40 eyes from 30 patients with RP-CME was conducted. The patients underwent NRT using a PASCAL laser system with endpoint management (EpM) software. Central macular thickness (CMT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were assessed at baseline and 2 months posttreatment. Long-term follow-up data, including recurrence rates were also reviewed.

Results: At the 2-month follow-up, NRT significantly reduced mean CMT by 79.7 μm (p < 0.001) and improved BCVA by 0.10 LogMAR (p < 0.001). Complete resolution of CME was observed in 30% of the eyes, while 52.5% experienced recurrence within 6 months. Unilateral cases exhibited greater CMT reductions than bilateral cases (p < 0.05). No retinal damage from the laser was observed. The long-term sustainability of these effects remains unclear, and repeated treatments have not yet been assessed.

Conclusion: NRT is a safe and effective short-term treatment for RP-CME, achieving significant anatomical and functional improvements without evidence of retinal damage. However, the high recurrence rate and absence of long-term data warrant further investigation. Future studies should explore repeated treatments, genetic subtypes, and correlations with the ellipsoid zone integrity.

Author ORCID Identifier

SEDA ÇEVİK KAYA: 0000-0001-5797-6192

MEHMET ÇITIRIK: 0000-0002-0558-5576

MEVLÜT YILMAZ: 0000-0001-7896-7279

EYÜPCAN ŞENSOY: 0000-0002-4401-8435

DOI

10.55730/1300-0144.6012

Keywords

central macular thickness, cystoid macular edema, micropulse laser, non-damaging retinal laser therapy, Retinitis pigmentosa, visual acuity

First Page

652

Last Page

657

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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