Diabetic retinopathy is a disorder of major public health importance, accounting for the majority of visual loss among working age Americans. Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a manifestation of diabetic retinopathy that produces loss of central vision. Data from the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy (WESDR) estimate that after 15 years of known diabetes, the prevalence of diabetic macular edema is approximately 20 percent in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), 25 in patients with type 2 DM who are taking insulin, and 14 percent in patients with type 2 DM who do not take insulin. The Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) showed that moderate vision loss, defined as a doubling of the visual angle (e.g., 20/20 reduced to 20/40), can be reduced by 50 percent or more by focal/grid laser photocoagulation according to ETDRS protocol. Although several treatment modalities are currently under investigation, the only demonstrated means to reduce the risk of vision loss from diabetic macular edema are ETDRS laser photocoagulation, as demonstrated by the ETDRS, and intensive glycemic control, as demonstrated by the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS). In the DCCT, intensive glucose control reduced the risk of onset of diabetic macular edema by 23 percent compared with conventional treatment. Long-term follow-up of patients in the DCCT show a sustained effect of intensive glucose control, with a 58 percent risk reduction in the development of diabetic macular edema for the DCCT patients followed in the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications Study.