Can DME Be Cured?

Frank Siringo, M.D., O.D., chief of vitreoretinal diseases and surgery at Omni Eye Specialists in Denver, answers the most important question about DME: Is it curable? The answer is surprisingly positive.

I think it's safe to say that DME can be cured. There is a treatment course that usually has a finite end and at the end of that treatment course, we're pretty much done.

The great news about anti VEGF drugs is that as we treat a patient's DME, the overall severity of their diabetic retinopathy goes down. A patient who may have been approaching that proliferative stage, where they need laser treatment, they very often will back away to a much milder form of diabetic retinopathy.

Now, can DME come back after an interval of a certain amount of years, yes. Patients with diabetes, again, will always need to have their eyes checked. This is a treatment with a generally good prognosis and a finite end.