Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 8, 2026
Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy Model for Ischemic Retinal Diseases in Rodents
Published on: September 16, 2020
Hyperreflective retinal foci as predictive biomarkers for fluid resolution after dexamethasone implant treatment in
Pasquale Viggiano1, Adriano Carnevali2, Ilaria Lolli3
1Department of Translational Biomedicine Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy. pasquale.viggiano@uniba.it.
Purpose:
To evaluate intraretinal inflammatory hyperreflective retinal foci (i-HRF) as predictive biomarkers for fluid resolution after dexamethasone implant (DEX-I) treatment in patients with retinal vein occlusions.
Methods:
This retrospective study included 49 consecutive patients (28 central retinal vein occlusion [CRVO], 21 branch retinal vein occlusion [BRVO]) treated with DEX-I (Ozurdex, AbbVie Inc.) between 2019 and 2024. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) parameters were analysed pre- and post-treatment using artificial intelligence-assisted quantitative analysis: central retinal thickness (CRT), i-HRF count, intraretinal fluid (IRF) volume, subretinal fluid (SRF) volume, external limiting membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) integrity.
Results:
Baseline i-HRF count significantly correlated with SRF volume reduction (r = 0.652, p < 0.001) and IRF volume reduction (r = 0.434, p = 0.003). SRF demonstrated superior resolution rates compared to IRF (92.3% vs 73.7%, p < 0.001). Patients with high i-HRF count ( ≥ 100) achieved 100% SRF resolution compared to 66.7% in low i-HRF group ( < 60), p = 0.024. Mean CRT reduction was 350.8 ± 198.7 μm with 17.2 ± 14.3 ETDRS letters visual acuity improvement. i-HRF count decreased from 77.4 ± 29.6 to 59.8 ± 28.2 (p < 0.001), confirming anti-inflammatory efficacy.
Conclusions:
Baseline i-HRF count may serve as a potentially valuable biomarker of fluid resolution after DEX-I in retinal vein occlusions. Higher i-HRF counts may be associated with a greater likelihood of SRF resolution within a dexamethasone-treated cohort.
