Early Results Of A RCT Comparing Micropulse 577nm Yellow Laser And Conventional 532nm Green Laser For Diabetic Macular Oedema (YELL-1 Study)

1. Tajunisah Mohd Iqbal
2. Linda Ong
3. Kenneth Fong
4. Thirupathy Annamalai

Department of Ophthalmology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Purpose: To compare micropulse yellow 577nm laser (MYL) with conventional green 532 nm laser (CGL) as a treatment for clinically significant macular oedema (CSMO).

Methods: Randomised controlled double-blind trial. Eyes with CSMO due to diabetes mellitus were randomised to receive either MYL or CGL. Main outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central subfoveal thickness (CST), macular volume (MV) and average macular thickness (AMT) based on optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Results: To date, 38 eyes of 28 patients with CSMO were randomly assigned to MYL (n=21) or CGL (n=17). All eyes completed 6 months follow up. Mean improvement in BCVA for the MYL and CDL groups were 4.7 and 3.7 letters respectively (p=0.78). There was no statistically significant difference in improvement in CST between the two laser groups at 6 months. There was a decrease in MV of 0.06mm3 in the CGL group and 0.73mm3 in the MYL group (p=0.02). Mean AMT also reduced in both groups. In the MYL group, mean AMT decreased by 23.2m compared with 2.0m in the CGL group (p=0.01).

Conclusion: MYL appears to be as effective as CGL in the treatment of diabetic macular oedema in the short term. At 6 months follow-up, reduction in macular volume and average macular thickness in the MYL group compared to the CGL group was statistically significant.