**1. Introduction**

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most handicapping complications of diabetes, as it threatens the vision of about 5–10% of patients suffering from diabetes, many of whom are in the working age group [1–4]. In the following sections, we shall concentrate on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of the early visually threatening complication of diabetic retinopathy, namely diabetic macular edema (DME).
