VISUAL OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA TREATED WITH DEXAMETHASONE IMPLANT IN ROUTINE CLINICAL...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Retinal Diseases
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a leading cause of vision loss in diabetic patients.
• Dexamethasone (DEX) implants are used to treat DME.
• The efficacy of DEX implants, alone or in combination with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy, requires further real-world evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the real-world visual outcomes of DEX implants in DME patients.
• To determine if combined DEX implant and anti-VEGF therapy offers additional visual acuity (VA) gain compared to monotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of medical records of DME patients treated with DEX implants.
• Comparison of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) at baseline and one year.
• Stratification of patients into DEX implant monotherapy and combination therapy groups.

Main Results:

• DEX implant therapy significantly improved BCVA (p=0.002) and reduced CRT (p<0.001) at one year.
• Mean BCVA improved by 5.2 letters and mean CRT decreased by 89.6 µm.
• No significant difference in VA gain was observed between DEX implant monotherapy and combination therapy groups.

Conclusions:

• DEX implants are effective in improving vision in patients with DME.
• Combination therapy with anti-VEGF agents does not yield additional visual benefits over DEX implant monotherapy in this cohort.