Degree of decrease in central retinal thickness predicts visual acuity response to intravitreal ranibizumab in...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Retinal Diseases
• Pharmacological Treatments

Background:

• Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a leading cause of vision loss in diabetic patients.
• Intravitreal ranibizumab injections are a common treatment for DME.
• Predicting treatment response is crucial for optimizing patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors associated with optimal or suboptimal response to ranibizumab in DME patients.
• To evaluate the relationship between anatomical changes and visual acuity improvement.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-nine eyes with DME treated with ranibizumab were analyzed.
• Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) were assessed using optical coherence tomography (OCT) at baseline, 3, and 6 months.
• OCT images were classified by morphological patterns.

Main Results:

• Treatment resulted in significant mean BCVA increase and CRT decrease at 3 and 6 months (p < 0.001).
• BCVA improvement correlated with baseline BCVA and the degree of CRT reduction.
• Eyes with CRT decrease ≥ 20% showed significantly greater BCVA improvement (10.3 letters) compared to those with <20% decrease (1.8 letters).

Conclusions:

• The degree of central retinal thickness decrease, measured by spectral-domain OCT, effectively identifies optimal responders to ranibizumab.
• CRT reduction predicts visual acuity improvement in DME patients treated with ranibizumab.