SPECTRAL DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY BIOMARKERS OF RETINAL HYPERPERMEABILITY AND CHOROIDAL INFLAMMATION AS PREDICTORS OF SHORT-TERM FUNCTIONAL AND ANATOMICAL OUTCOMES IN EYES WITH DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA TREATED WITH INTRAVITREAL BEVACIZUMAB

Abstract

Purpose: To assess spectral domain optical coherence tomography biomarkers of short-term outcomes in eyes with diabetic macular edema treated with intravitreal bevacizumab. Methods: In a prospective interventional case series, 66 eyes with diabetic macular edema underwent 3 monthly intravitreal bevacizumab injections. Best-corrected visual acuity measurement and spectral domain optical coherence tomography were performed at baseline and at 3 months. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to investigate the baseline spectral domain optical coherence tomography parameters as predictors of functional and anatomical outcomes. Results: Patients with diabetic nephropathy had greater subfoveal choroidal thickness (300.8 ± 35.54 vs. 253.0 ± 50.07 µm, P < 0.01) and were more likely to have subretinal fluid (r = 0.26, P = 0.03) at baseline. Multivariate analysis showed that the extent of external limiting membrane disruption (P = 0.03) and the extent of disorganization of retinal inner layers (P = 0.03) at baseline were predictors of best-corrected visual acuity at 3 months, whereas the extent of disorganization of retinal inner layers (P = 0.04) and duration of diabetes mellitus (P = 0.03) were predictors of central subfield thickness at 3 months. Conclusion: External limiting membrane disruption and disorganization of retinal inner layers, as the spectral domain optical coherence tomography biomarkers of retinal hyperpermeability, can predict short-term outcomes in diabetic macular edema eyes treated with intravitreal bevacizumab.