Abstract
BackgroundTo address the presence and features of outer retinal tubulation (ORT) found in diabetic macular edema (DME) treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) and to differentiate between ORT and cystoid DME, which have different plans of management.MethodsThis was a retrospective review of a total of 514 patients investigated with spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with diabetic macular edema treated with anti-VEGF. ORT was seen in 12 eyes of 11 patients. The morphologic characteristics of ORT and its progress over time were examined using OCT data. The retinal images were obtained by horizontal and vertical scans to analyze the possible presence of ORT and to explore their morphologic features and location in the retinal layers.ResultsORT was seen in DME treated with anti-VEGF. ORT was shown as round or ovoid hyporeflective spaces with hyperreflective borders on the B-scans, measuring 30 to 120 μm high and 30 to 1775 μm wide. The tubules generally remained stable over time. In a retinal practice specializing in advanced diabetic retinopathy clinic, this ORT was seen in 12 eyes of 11 patients during a 12-month period. ORT presented either after receiving 0.05 mL open-label intravitreal injections of 0.5 mg ranibizumab or 1.25 mg bevacizumab.ConclusionORT is found in DME treated with anti-VEGF that may show damage to the outer retina secondary to the severity and chronicity of the DME. ORT may be a result of underlying chronic and severe diabetic macular edema that may occur later possibly secondary to retinal layers rearrangement after several anti-VEGF injections. It is important to differentiate between ORT and cystoids DME. The presence of the ORT entity alone without the presence of DME does not require further anti-VEGF re-injections.
Highlights
To address the presence and features of outer retinal tubulation (ORT) found in diabetic macular edema (DME) treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor and to differentiate between ORT and cystoid DME, which have different plans of management
A total of 514 patients with DME treated with antiVEGF were examined with standard deviation (SD)-Optical coherence tomography (OCT)
ORT has been detected in retinal diseases mainly associated with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) or subretinal fibrosis, such as neovascular Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and angioid streaks caused by pseudoxanthoma elasticum [5,6,9,10]
Summary
To address the presence and features of outer retinal tubulation (ORT) found in diabetic macular edema (DME) treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) and to differentiate between ORT and cystoid DME, which have different plans of management. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has a significant role in blood-retinal barrier breakdown, which leads to fluid leakage and the development of macular edema [1]. The first in vivo tomograms of the human optic disc and macula were established in 1993 [3,4]. Curcio et al [6] were the first to identify this ORT in a histopathologic study of eyes with advanced AMD. They found that surviving photoreceptors seemed to rearrange
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