“With Ai faster diagnosis for diabetic maculopathy”

2023-05-18 14:24:00

“Of the 3 million Italians with diabetes, about 30% (900,000) live with diabetic retinopathy. Of these, 8% have maculopathy, so they are blind or at risk of becoming blind due to the disease. They are mostly affected adults of working age, unlike age-related macular degeneration, which is the preserve of the elderly population. It is essential to intervene early. Today artificial intelligence automatically allows the very rapid definition of the presence and type of macular edema“. So at time.news Salute Edward Midena, from the Italian Society of the Retina (Sir) and director of the Ophthalmology Clinic of the University of Paduaon the occasion of the 2nd National Congress of the Siso – Italian Society of Ophthalmological Sciencesstarting today and until 20 May at the Ergife in Rome.

“L’diabetic macular edema is one of the most frequent and disabling forms of diabetic retinopathy – explains Midena – which by itself represents an important chronic complication of diabetes and affects the macula, or the central part of the retina which is essential for vision. That’s why it is a cause of blindness”. Among the symptoms, the loss of vision is the most important. “The cause is the accumulation of pathological fluids in the central region of the retina, the macula”, remarks the expert, according to the which treatments “must be timely to deliver meaningful results and prevent blindness. The treatments consist in the intraocular (intravitreal) injection of pharmacological substances capable of reabsorbing the pathological fluids”.

It is “fundamental to diagnose diabetic macular edema early – underlines Midena – and to characterize it in order to choose the best and most adequate and personalized drug therapy. In our help there is theartificial intelligence applied to the main diagnostic technique (called Oct) which automatically allows the very rapid definition of the presence and type of macular edema and, subsequently, an objective quantification of the improvement after treatment and of any recurrences”. Not only cure. “Also the prevention it is always very important – concludes Midena – and consists in documenting early, before the edema is symptomatic, the state of the macula. For that reason screening of the diabetic population is essentialalso in this case with the help of artificial intelligence systems, which can even be completely automatic”.