Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), damage of the blood vessels in the retina, is one of the problems that patients may face as a complication of diabetes and is, along with other diabetic eye diseases, the greatest single cause of blindness in developed countries. This publication starts with the description of the mechanisms of development and progression of diabetic macular edema and with the characterization of the early stages of DR. An innovative approach of multimedial mapping methods which enables to differentiate between three DR phenotypes is further described. The standards and novel approaches of laser treatment as well as current surgical options and treatment techniques are discussed. Additional contributions consider the pathology of diffuse macular edema and the implications for surgery, the treatment of DR with triamcinolone and its complications, and the application of somatostatin analogues. A new therapeutic approach is the use of vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors in diabetic macular edema. The volume concludes with articles on the latest concepts of posterior vitreous detachment by pharmacologic vitreolysis and the specific protein kinase C subtype (beta) inhibitor ruboxistaurin mesylate. This volume is an essential up-date to ophthalmologists and diabetes health care professionals interested in diabetic eye disease.