Long-term effects of pattern scan laser pan-retinal photocoagulation on diabetic retinopathy in Chinese patients: a retrospective study

● AIM: To evaluate the long-term effects of pattern scan laser(PASCAL) pan-retinal photocoagulation(PRP) on diabetic retinopathy(DR) in Chinese patients.● METHODS: In this retrospective study, we evaluated clinical data of 29 patients(53 eyes) with severe non-proliferative DR(SNPDR) or proliferative DR(PDR) who received PRP and follow-up at our hospital from 2008 to 2013. Sixteen patients(29 eyes) received PASCAL PRP and 13 patients(24 eyes) received 100-ms conventional laser PRP. ● RESULTS: After long-term follow-up(mean, min-max days: 719.8, 290-1666 for PASCAL PRP vs 743.5, 240-1348 for conventional PRP, P=0.569), patients receiving PASCAL PRP required fewer photocoagulation sessions than the conventional PRP group(2.6±1.0 vs 3.9±0.9, P<0.01). Best corrected visual acuity(BCVA) was reduced slightly in PASCAL PRP group while reduced significantly in conventional PRP group. At last visit, 24 eyes in the PASCAL group(88.9%) and 21 eyes in the conventional group(91.7%) were improved or stable. Two eyes in PASCAL PRP group(7.4%) and 3 eyes in the conventional PRP group(12.5%) developed vitreous hemorrhage or vitreous fibrovascular proliferation. ● CONCLUSION: PASCAL PRP is as effective and may be more conducive to maintaining visual acuity with less treatment sessions for DR treatment compared to conventional laser PRP.