The Effect of Panretinal Laser Photocoagulation on Visual Acuity, Visual Fields and on Subjective Visual Impairment in Preproliferative and Early Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

The effect of panretinal laser scatter treatment on visual fields, visual acuity and subjective complaints was assessed in 11 patients with severe nonproliferative or early proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Patients were prospectively examined before and after panretinal treatment using automated static threshold perimetry with program 30-2 on the Humphrey perimeter, and they were interviewed. Visual field sensitivity was often depressed even before treatment with mean MD -4.3 (-1, -11.6) dB, but was significantly lower (p < 0.01, ANOVA) 2 weeks after treatment with mean MD -8.6 dB. Visual fields remained stable 4 months later. Treatment increased the number of eyes with visual fields as defined by abnormal MD values at the p < 0.05 level from 8 to 16 among the 17 treated. In spite of considerable impairment of visual fields after treatment, subjective problems were small and the visual field impairment seemed to have little influence on everyday life.