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.