Switch to Aflibercept in Diabetic Macular Edema Patients Unresponsive to Previous Anti-VEGF Therapy

Abstract EN

Purpose.

The aim was to evaluate the efficacy of aflibercept in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) unresponsive to prior anti-VEGF therapy.

Methods.

Retrospective review of DME unresponsive to previous anti-VEGF switched to aflibercept with 3 months of follow-up.

Changes in best correct visual acuity (BCVA), central retinal thickness (CRT), and frequency of injections were analyzed.

The percentage of subjects who had ≥20/40 (logMAR equivalent 0.3) and ≤20/200 (logMAR equivalent 1) was evaluated.

Results.

A total of 32 eyes from 26 patients were included.

Mean age was 65 ± 10 years old.

The mean number of previous anti-VEGF injections was 5.34 ± 2.38, and the mean number of aflibercept injections at the end of the study was 2.00 ± 0.00.

The CRT at baseline was 501.47 ± 150.51 μm and 367.97 ± 124.61 μm at 3 months of follow-up (P<0.001).

The logMAR BCVA at baseline was 0.71 ± 0.36 and 0.65 ± 0.33 at the end of the follow-up (P=0.037).

At baseline, 12.5% of patients had ≥20/40 compared with 25% at the end of follow-up.

At baseline, 28.13% of patients had 20/200 or inferior vision compared with 15.63% at the end of the follow-up.

Conclusions.

DME patients unresponsive to previous multiple ranibizumab injections demonstrate a significant anatomical and functional improvement with the switch to aflibercept.