Correlation between clinical, fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography findings in clinically significant macular edema

Background: Macular edema is an important cause of visual morbidity in diabetic retinopathy. It can be assessed by both fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Aims: To study, if any, correlation exists between FA and OCT patterns in Clinically significant macular edema (CSME). Furthermore, to correlate macular thickness as determined by OCT to best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study which compared patterns in FA and OCT in patients with CSME. All the patients who were diagnosed as CSME underwent a complete ophthalmic examination and were subjected to FA and OCT. Those with a hazy media were excluded from the study. The results were analyzed by Fisher's exact test. Results: A total of 32 eyes were studied. FA revealed that most of the patients had diffuse leak (59%), followed by focal leak (31%) and combined leak (10%). On OCT, isolated sponge-like retinal swelling was seen among 66% eyes, spongy retinal swelling with cystoid macular edema/serous foveal detachment in 28% eyes, and 6% had a combined pattern. There was a statistical correlation between FA and OCT findings in our study ( P = 0.038). The mean central foveal thickness in our study was 321.75 ΁ 98.30 μm, and there was a statistically significant correlation between central foveal thickness and BCVA ( P = 0.043). Conclusion: There is a significant correlation between OCT and FA findings for CSME. Furthermore, the foveal thickness correlates to BCVA.