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Abstract #81422 Published in IGR 20-3
Two-year analysis of changes in the optic nerve and retina following anti-VEGF treatments in diabetic macular edema patients
Filek R; Hooper P; Sheidow TG; Gonder J; Chakrabarti S; Hutnik CMClinical Ophthalmology 2019; 13: 1087-1096
To evaluate long-term structural and functional changes that happen to the optic nerve and retina following ranibizumab (Lucentis) injections in diabetic macular edema (DME) patients. Patients with clinically significant DME requiring anti-VEGF injections underwent pre-injection baseline, 6, 12, and 24 month follow-up tests. The tests performed were optical coherence tomography (OCT), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and visual field (VF). Wide-field fluorescein angiogram (IVFA) was performed to monitor the progression of diabetic ischemia. A total of 30 patients requiring anti-VEGF injections and 21 control patients not requiring anti-VEGF injections were enrolled in the study. From baseline, the average macular thickness significantly decreased (<0.0002) over the 24-month time period. Mean perfused ratio significantly increased (<0.0005) at 6, 12, and 24 months. Cup volume and vertical cup-to-disk ratio significantly increased (<0.0014) over the study period. This was verified by masked independent grading of patient optic nerve stereo-photographs by glaucoma specialists. BCVA significantly (<0.0006) improved over the study period. VFs showed a non-significant trend of deteriorating peripheral vision at 12 and 24 months. Clinically, anti-VEGF therapy appears to affect the optic nerve by increasing cup volume and increasing vertical cup/disk ratio over time. The results provide a cautionary note to monitor both the retina and optic nerve status in patients undergoing frequent injections.
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Full articleClassification:
11.15 Other drugs in relation to glaucoma (Part of: 11 Medical treatment)
9.4.5.5 Other (Part of: 9 Clinical forms of glaucomas > 9.4 Glaucomas associated with other ocular and systemic disorders > 9.4.5 Glaucomas associated with disorders of the retina, choroid and vitreous)
2.13 Retina and retinal nerve fibre layer (Part of: 2 Anatomical structures in glaucoma)
2.14 Optic disc (Part of: 2 Anatomical structures in glaucoma)
