Laser treatment of diabetic retinopathy.

Laser treatment of diabetic retinopathy is still the gold standard of treatment for focal and diffuse diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. When properly treated, the 5-year risk of blindness is reduced by 90% in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and the risk of visual loss from macular edema is reduced by 50%. However, only about 35-50% of patients with diabetes mellitus receive regular eye examinations, which are important for timely diagnosis and proper treatment. The necessary goals are better patient education to improve the control of diabetes and better screening programs to reduce the risk of blindness from diabetic retinopathy.