Evaluation of the Effect of Intravitreal Injections of Anti-VEGF on Macular Perfusion in Diabetic Patients Using OCTA

Summary

Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs are the mainstay of therapy for diabetic macular edema (DME), substantially improving visual acuity for many diabetics worldwide, and proving effective for treatment of both non-proliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Many studies such as Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network studies, RESTORE Study, and The BOLT Study have supported the use of different anti-VEGF agents in the treatment of DME with better visual outcomes using anti-VEGF injections alone or in combination with other treatments. Several ocular complications of intravitreal anti-VEGF injections have been reported including endophthalmitis, cataract and retinal detachment. The effect of anti-VEGF drugs on macular perfusion has been inconclusive, with mixed reports of increase, decrease or no effect on perfusion in response to anti-VEGF treatment. In many of these studies, however, patients with more ischaemic retinas were not included. Retinal ischemia is an important factor in the progression and prognosis of diabetic retinopathy. Fluorescein angiography (FA) was the method used to assess changes in macular perfusion after anti-VEGF injections in most of the studies. Despite its clinical usefulness, however, FA is known to have documented risks. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a new noninvasive method of acquiring high-resolution images of the retinal vasculature that can be utilized in the treatment of retinal disease without the need for dye injection. It allows the visualization of the superficial and deep retinal capillary layers separately and the construction of microvascular flow maps. Several studies have proved the reliability of OCTA in detecting and quantifying macular ischemia in diabetics. In this study, investigators aim to evaluate the effect of repeated intravitreal injections of different Anti-VEGF agents on the perfusion of different capillary layers in the macula of diabetic patients using OCTA.

Timeline

Start

2017-10-23

Primary completion

2018-12-24

Completion

2018-12-24

Publications

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• Background Photocoagulation for diabetic macular edema. Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study report number 1. Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study research group. Arch Ophthalmol. 1985 Dec;103(12):1796-806.
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• Background Hwang TS, Gao SS, Liu L, Lauer AK, Bailey ST, Flaxel CJ, Wilson DJ, Huang D, Jia Y. Automated Quantification of Capillary Nonperfusion Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Diabetic Retinopathy. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016 Apr;134(4):367-73. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2015.5658.
• Background Bradley PD, Sim DA, Keane PA, Cardoso J, Agrawal R, Tufail A, Egan CA. The Evaluation of Diabetic Macular Ischemia Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2016 Feb;57(2):626-31. doi: 10.1167/iovs.15-18034.
• Background Freiberg FJ, Pfau M, Wons J, Wirth MA, Becker MD, Michels S. Optical coherence tomography angiography of the foveal avascular zone in diabetic retinopathy. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2016 Jun;254(6):1051-8. doi: 10.1007/s00417-015-3148-2. Epub 2015 Sep 4.
• Background Spaide RF, Klancnik JM Jr, Cooney MJ. Retinal vascular layers imaged by fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography angiography. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2015 Jan;133(1):45-50. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2014.3616.
• Background Yannuzzi LA, Rohrer KT, Tindel LJ, Sobel RS, Costanza MA, Shields W, Zang E. Fluorescein angiography complication survey. Ophthalmology. 1986 May;93(5):611-7. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(86)33697-2.
• Background Bonnin P, Pournaras JA, Lazrak Z, Cohen SY, Legargasson JF, Gaudric A, Levy BI, Massin P. Ultrasound assessment of short-term ocular vascular effects of intravitreal injection of bevacizumab (Avastin((R)) ) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Acta Ophthalmol. 2010 Sep;88(6):641-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2009.01526.x.
• Background Papadopoulou DN, Mendrinos E, Mangioris G, Donati G, Pournaras CJ. Intravitreal ranibizumab may induce retinal arteriolar vasoconstriction in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmology. 2009 Sep;116(9):1755-61. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2009.03.017. Epub 2009 Jun 27.
• Background Manousaridis K, Talks J. Macular ischaemia: a contraindication for anti-VEGF treatment in retinal vascular disease? Br J Ophthalmol. 2012 Feb;96(2):179-84. doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2011-301087.
• Background Nguyen QD, Brown DM, Marcus DM, Boyer DS, Patel S, Feiner L, Gibson A, Sy J, Rundle AC, Hopkins JJ, Rubio RG, Ehrlich JS; RISE and RIDE Research Group. Ranibizumab for diabetic macular edema: results from 2 phase III randomized trials: RISE and RIDE. Ophthalmology. 2012 Apr;119(4):789-801. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2011.12.039. Epub 2012 Feb 11.
• Background Mitchell P, Bandello F, Schmidt-Erfurth U, Lang GE, Massin P, Schlingemann RO, Sutter F, Simader C, Burian G, Gerstner O, Weichselberger A; RESTORE study group. The RESTORE study: ranibizumab monotherapy or combined with laser versus laser monotherapy for diabetic macular edema. Ophthalmology. 2011 Apr;118(4):615-25. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2011.01.031.
• Elnahry AG, Abdel-Kader AA, Raafat KA, Elrakhawy K. Evaluation of Changes in Macular Perfusion Detected by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography following 3 Intravitreal Monthly Bevacizumab Injections for Diabetic Macular Edema in the IMPACT Study. J Ophthalmol. 2020 Apr 27;2020:5814165. doi: 10.1155/2020/5814165. eCollection 2020.

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