Abstract
This study reports the short-term efficacy and safety of intravitreal conbercept injections for neovascularization at the disc (NVD) in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Conbercept is a recombinant fusion protein with a high affinity for all isoforms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, placental growth factor and VEGF-B. A prospective case series study was conducted in 15 patients (15 eyes). Patients had complete ocular examinations and received a 0.5 mg intravitreal conbercept injection followed by supplemental pan-retinal photocoagulation (PRP). Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) was performed before and after treatment. Before treatment, the mean NVD area was 1.05 ± 0.33 mm2, and it decreased to 0.56 ± 0.17 mm2 after an interval of 7.5 d (p = 0.000). One eye required vitrectomy during follow-up. Recurrent NVD was observed in 2 eyes, which resolved after repeated injections. The remaining 12 eyes were stable over a mean follow-up period of 8.3 months. The mean area of the NVD in 14 patients without vitrectomy was 0.22 ± 0.11 mm2 (p = 0.000) at the last visit. Intravitreal conbercept injections combined with intensive PRP are an effective and safe treatment for PDR with NVD. Quantitative information on NVD can be obtained with OCTA, which may be clinically useful in evaluating the therapeutic effect.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the world’s fastest growing chronic diseases, and diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a specific microvascular complication of DM
Five eyes were diagnosed as high-risk proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) without previous pan-retinal photocoagulation (PRP) treatment, manifested as neovascularization at the disc (NVD)
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that DR accounts for 4.8% of the cases of blindness (37 million) worldwide[15]
Summary
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the world’s fastest growing chronic diseases, and diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a specific microvascular complication of DM. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a severe stage of DR and one form of vision-threatening DR. Pan-retinal photocoagulation (PRP) is the established treatment for PDR, as it is effective and has preserved vision in numerous patients over the past several decades[2,3,4]. We have conducted a prospective study on the short-term efficacy and safety of intravitreal conbercept injections combined with laser treatment for neovascularization at the disc (NVD) in patients with PDR. The introduction of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) into clinical practice allows the detection and visualization of the blood flow and morphology of retinal vessels and is useful to monitor different NVD subtypes, their development, and the efficacy of treatment regimens as well as to define new vessel www.nature.com/scientificreports/. To obtain quantitative information on NVD, OCTA was performed before and after treatment, and the NVD area was calculated
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