Objective To verify the pattern characteristics of optical coherance tomography (OCT) images in diabetic maculopathy (DM). Methods OCT were performed in sixty cases of DM and 30 cases of normal control group,and in 54 cases of DM,fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) was performed simutaneously.The results from 2 kinds of examinations were compared each other. Results The average retinal thickness at the central fovea was (314.54plusmn;154.13) mu;m in DM group.The macular edema in the cases of DM accounted to 57.1% on OCT examination. The rate of retinal swelling associated with cystoid macular edema (CME) was 38.5%,with retinal detachment (RD) 9.2%,and with both CME and RD was 16.9%Those with mormal macular thickness and mild macular edema primarily showed focal leakage in FFA exam,while those with moderate and severe macular edema showed diffuse leakage in FFA exam.The rate of CME was 28.6% presented in FFA and 58.9% in OCT examination (t= 3.39,Plt;0.05). Conclusion OCT images of DM reveal 3 kinds of morphological features：retinal welling,CME,and sensory retinals de tachment.OCT is superior to FFA in detecting CME. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2001,17:184-186)