Treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema with Intravitreal Antivascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Prompt versus Deferred Focal Laser during Long-Term Follow-Up and Identification of Prognostic Retinal Markers

Figure 1

Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME) treated with intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) combined with prompt or deferred focal macular laser. Although functional results in eyes treated with immediate anti-VEGF therapy combined with laser at week 12 (prompt treatment group: 0.5; 20/40 Snellen (SD = 0.04, 0.3 logMAR) versus deferred treatment group: 0.4; 20/50 Snellen (SD = 0.04, logMAR: 0.4), ) and month 9 (prompt group: 0.5; 20/40 Snellen (SD = 0.03, 0.3 logMAR) versus deferred group: 0.4; 20/50 Snellen (SD = 0.04, 0.4 logMAR), )) were slightly better; no meaningful functional benefit was observed in the prompt group during long-term follow-up. BCVA = best-corrected visual acuity. CRT = central retinal thickness. Black lines represent trend lines. Stars represent standard deviation. values indicate change compared with baseline. (a) BCVA-entire study population (50 eyes). (b) CRT-entire study population (50 eyes). (c) BCVA-prompt/deferred (light blue line) group (25/25 eyes). (d) CRT-prompt/deferred (light green line) group (25/25 eyes).