Long-term effects of pattern scan laser pan-retinal photocoagulation on diabetic retinopathy in Chinese patients: a retrospective study.

AIM

To evaluate the long-term effects of pattern scan laser (PASCAL) pan-retinal photocoagulation (PRP) on diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Chinese patients.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, we evaluated clinical data of 29 patients (53 eyes) with severe non-proliferative DR (SNPDR) or proliferative DR (PDR) who received PRP and follow-up at our hospital from 2008 to 2013. Sixteen patients (29 eyes) received PASCAL PRP and 13 patients (24 eyes) received 100-ms conventional laser PRP.

RESULTS

After long-term follow-up (mean, min-max days: 719.8, 290-1666 for PASCAL PRP 743.5, 240-1348 for conventional PRP, =0.569), patients receiving PASCAL PRP required fewer photocoagulation sessions than the conventional PRP group (2.6±1.0 3.9±0.9, <0.01). Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was reduced slightly in PASCAL PRP group while reduced significantly in conventional PRP group. At last visit, 24 eyes in the PASCAL group (88.9%) and 21 eyes in the conventional group (91.7%) were improved or stable. Two eyes in PASCAL PRP group (7.4%) and 3 eyes in the conventional PRP group (12.5%) developed vitreous hemorrhage or vitreous fibrovascular proliferation.

CONCLUSION

PASCAL PRP is as effective and may be more conducive to maintaining visual acuity with less treatment sessions for DR treatment compared to conventional laser PRP.