Macular oedema

Question 1

What are the causes of macular oedema?

Answer 1

• Diabetic retinopathy 🡪 called diabetic macular oedema (DMO)
• Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (wet AMD)
• Uveitis
• Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) 🡪 ischaemia 🡪 optic disc collaterals (different from NVD) 🡪 cystoid macular oedema (CMO)
• Post-eye surgery ( ‘cystoid macular oedema’ (CMO) post-cataract surgery): Eye is irritated by new lens s/p cataract surgery
• Blockage in the small veins of the retina, due to radiation, macular telangiectasis
• Side effects of certain medications
• Certain genetic disorders, such as retinoschisis or retinitis pigmentosa

Question 2

what are the symptoms of macular oedema?

Answer 2

• Blurred central vision (objectively test with Amsler grid)
• Colours appear washed out or changed
• In severe cases -> blindness

Question 3

what are the investigations needed for macular oedema?

Answer 3

• fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), or another called optical coherence tomography (OCT)
• Fluorescein angiography (FFA) images show your ophthalmologist whether any blood vessels are leaking and how much leakage there is
• With OCT, a special camera is used to photograph your retina. It measures the thickness of the retina and is also very sensitive at detecting swelling and fluid