Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of one-year treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) with intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) injections on a practical protocol. The medical records of 51 eyes of 43 patients who were diagnosed with DME and had received IVA treatments were reviewed. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the central macular thickness (CMT) were measured at the baseline and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the IVA. The mean number of IVA injections was 3.8 ± 2.4. The mean BCVA was significantly better and the CMT was thinner after the IVA at all follow-up times (P < 0.05). The BCVA was better in eyes with a serous retinal detachment (SRD) than without a SRD (P < 0.01). There was a significant correlation between the photoreceptor outer segment (PROS) length and BCVA at the baseline and at 12 months after the IVA (P < 0.05). A fewer number of IVA injections significantly improved the BCVA and the CMT in eyes with DME after one-year treatment. IVA was more effective in the SRD+ group than in the SRD− group. The PROS length may be a predictive marker for visual outcomes after one-year treatment with IVA for DME (IRB#2272).
Highlights
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is one of the major causes of moderate vision decrease in patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy [1]
The results indicated that a lower number of intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) injections given on a practical protocol significantly improved the visual acuity in eyes with DME [12]
Repeated measured analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant difference in the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between the serous retinal detachment (SRD)+ and SRD− groups
Summary
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is one of the major causes of moderate vision decrease in patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy [1]. The results of a recent meta-analysis of 22,896 individuals with diabetes (META-EYE Study) found that the prevalence of DME was 6.81% which was comparable to that of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (6.96%) [2]. The results indicated that a lower number of IVA injections given on a practical protocol significantly improved the visual acuity in eyes with DME [12]. In this one-year study, we examine the efficacy of longer period of IVA injections in eyes with DME. We compare the efficacy of IVA in eyes with and without a serous retinal detachment (SRD) because the conclusions of the effect of anti-VEGF injections in eyes with or without SRD are still controversial [12,13,14]
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