In diabetes mellitus, the body does not use and store sugar properly. High blood-sugar levels can damage blood vessels in the retina, causing diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic macular edema is a swelling, or thickening of the macula, from these damaged leaking retinal vessels. The macula is a small area in the center of the retina that is primarily responsible for our central vision.

Current treatments available for diabetic macular edema are laser treatment, Kenalog injections and Avastin™ injections.

Laser treatments have reduced the risk of blindness from diabetic macular edema by stopping the damages retinal vessels from leaking.

Kenalog™ is a steroid medication that is injected in the white part of your eye that reduces swelling, leakage, and abnormal blood vessel growth that is caused by diabetes. This drug has been approved by the FDA to treat swelling caused by many medical conditions and was approved to be injected in a muscle, the skin or a joint. Although the FDA did not approve this drug to treat eye conditions, Ophthalmologists have been using this medication off label in and around the eye for over 30 years.

Avastin™ was not initially developed to treat diabetic macular edema. Based on the results of prior clinical trials Avastin™ was approved by the FDA to treat metastatic colorectal cancer by blocking or inhibiting a substance known as vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF. Blocking VEGF helps prevent further growth of the blood vessel that the cancer needs to continue growing. Research has indicated that VEGF is one of the causes for the growth of the abnormal blood vessels in diabetic macular edema. Ophthalmologists are now using Avastin™ off label to treat diabetic macular edema. Ophthalmologists have found that some patients treated with Avastin™ had less fluid and more normal appearing maculas, and their vision improved. Avastin™ is typically given every four weeks through an injection in the white part of the eye.

We are currently participating in several clinical trials that are working to develop new and more effective treatments for this condition.