Correlation of Macular Thickness and Visual Acuity in DME Treated by Two Doses of Intravitreal Ziv-Aflibercept Versus Bevacizumab: Analysis of a Randomized, Three-Armed Clinical Trial.

Abstract

To report the correlation of central macular thickness (CMT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after 1-year treatment by two doses (2.5 mg or 1.25 mg) of intravitreal ziv-aflibercept (IVZ) versus bevacizumab (IVB) in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME). In this study, the correlation of CMT and BCVA changes of the eyes enrolled in a previous clinical trial of 123 eyes were re-evaluated. The correlation of BCVA and CMT changes at each visit was evaluated in the three study arms individually. Then, the eyes in each of the arms were classified at each follow-up visit into three subgroups based on their CMT changes related to the baseline CMT: CMT decrease of 30% or more of baseline CMT, between 10% to 29% of baseline CMT, and less than 9% of baseline CMT or CMT increase. BCVA and CMT changes were correlated significantly (P < .05) in all and in half of the follow-up visits, respectively, in the eyes treated by IVZ 1.25 mg and IVB (r = 0.554 and r = 0.617 at 1 year, respectively). Nevertheless, such a significant correlation was not detected in the eyes treated by IVZ 2.5 mg in any of the follow-up visits (r = 0.202 at 1 year; P = .259). In the IVZ 2.5 mg group, BCVA improvement was observed in all subgroups with each level of CMT reductions. Ziv-aflibercept 2.5 mg might have a beneficial effect on DME beyond thickness reduction. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019;50:684-690.].