Efficacy of intravitreal dexamethasone implant as a starting monotherapy and when switching from an anti-VEGF drug in diabetic macular edema

Abstract

To conduct a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of an intravitreal dexamethasone implant as a starting monotherapy and when switching from anti-VEGF therapy for macular edema in patients with diabetes mellitus. The study involved 112 patients (112 eyes) with diabetic macular edema. The 1st group of the study included 58 patients (58 eyes) with newly diagnosed diabetic macular edema, who had not previously received special ophthalmic treatment. Group 2 included 54 patients (54 eyes) resistant to anti-VEGF therapy after 5 intravitreal injections of aflibercept. All patients underwent monthly spectral optical coherence tomography of the macular region, as well as visometry and tonometry during the follow-up period (6 months). The maximum therapeutic effect in both groups was observed 3 months after intravitreal introduction of the dexamethasone implant - in 94.8% and 92.5% of cases, respectively, it contributed to an improvement in the architectonics of the retinal layers, a decrease in retinal edema and an increase in visual acuity. At the same time, the most pronounced increase in BCVA (on average up to 0.66±0.1) was observed in patients of the 1st group. This study confirmed that an intravitreal dexamethasone implant can be recommended for newly diagnosed diabetic macular edema, as just one injection leads to resolution of macular edema and high functional outcomes, which persisted in 89.6% of study patients throughout the observation period.