Evaluation of microaneurysms as predictors of therapeutic response to anti-VEGF therapy in patients with DME.

Abstract

Administration of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy is the first-line therapy for diabetic macular oedema (DME). However, some patients show no or insufficient response to repeated anti-VEGF injections. Therefore, it is necessary to identify factors that can predict this resistance against anti-VEGF treatment. Presence of microaneurysms (MAs) is a predictor of the development and progression of DME, but its relationship with the treatment response to the anti-VEGF agents is not well known. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the relationship between the distribution of MAs and the response to anti-VEGF therapy in patients with DME. The number of MAs was measured before anti-VEGF therapy in each region using fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography (IA), and optical coherence tomography angiography. Patients with DME were divided into the responder and non-responder groups after three loading phases. Differences in the distribution of MAs between the groups were investigated. Pre-treatment IA revealed more MAs in the nasal area in the non-responder group than in the responder group (10.7 ± 10.7 and 5.7 ± 5.7, respectively, in the nasal macula) (1.4 ± 2.1 and 0.4 ± 0.7, respectively, in the nasal fovea). Whereas, pre-treatment FA and OCTA could not reveal significantly difference between the groups. Detection of MAs in the nasal macula using pre-treatment IA may indicate resistance to anti-VEGF therapy. We recommend the clinicians confirm the presence of MAs in the nasal macula, as shown by IA, as a predictor of therapeutic response to anti-VEGF therapy in patients with treatment naive DME.