Can high blood pressure cause macular edema?
In the retina, blisters of fluid form and swell the retina—this is macular edema. Factors likely to cause macular edema include conditions that: Cause more fluid to leak from blood vessels (diabetes and high blood pressure) Increase inflammation in the eye (surgery, inflammatory diseases)
What causes retinal edema and hard exudates in diabetic retinopathy?
What causes retinal edema and hard exudates in diabetic retinopathy? Author: Abdhish R Bhavsar, MD; Chief Editor: Romesh Khardori, MD, PhD, FACP more… Retinal edema and hard exudates are caused by the breakdown of the blood-retina barrier, allowing leakage of serum proteins, lipids, and protein from the vessels.
What kind of eye disease causes macular edema?
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is caused by a complication of diabetes called diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease and the leading cause of irreversible blindness in working age Americans.
Can a disease of the retina cause visual symptoms?
Retinal diseases vary widely, but most of them cause visual symptoms. Retinal diseases can affect any part of your retina, a thin layer of tissue on the inside back wall of your eye.
How is laser photocoagulation used for diffuse retinal edema?
Grid laser photocoagulation involves uniformly spaced laser burns to the macula for diffuse retinal edema. The vitreous jelly helps retain intraocular VEGF and serves as a scaffold for the proliferation of blood vessels and fibrosis.
What causes macular edema in diabetic retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy usually affects both eyes. Diabetic retinopathy is caused by ongoing damage to the small blood vessels of the retina. The leakage of fluid into the retina may lead to swelling of the surrounding tissue, including the macula. DME is the most common cause of vision loss in people with diabetic retinopathy.
Can a person with macular edema lose their vision?
A patient with macular edema, or with exudate in the macula, will usually experience some loss of vision, including blurring, distortion, and darkening. If one eye is affected, the other eye is frequently affected also, though the problem may not be equally severe in both eyes.
How is the treatment of macular edema determined?
Treatment for macular edema is determined by the type of macular edema you have. The most effective treatment strategies first aim at the underlying cause of macular edema, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and then directly treat the damage in the retina.
What causes swelling in the central part of the retina?
Blood and fluid seep from the leaks in the damaged retinal blood vessels, and fatty material (called exudate) can deposit in the retina. This causes swelling of the retina. When leakage occurs and causes swelling in the central part of the retina (the macula), it is called macular edema, and vision will be reduced or blurred.