Long-term follow-up of patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) treated with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) combined focal laser and identification of prognostic morphological characteristics.

Long-term follow-up of patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) treated with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) combined focal laser and identification of prognostic morphological characteristics.

Prospective clinical trial (50 treatment-naive eyes) with DME randomized 1:1 receiving intravitreal ranibizumab (0.5 mg/0.05 ml) and prompt grid laser compared to ranibizumab and deferred laser. Morphological characteristics potentially relevant for prognosis were assessed at baseline, month 6, month 9, year 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of follow-up.

Grid laser and ranibizumab therapy is expected to be effective in DME management during long-term follow-up. Immediate combined therapy will likely signify a trend of functional superiority in an early disease phase. Intraretinal hyperreflective material in SD-OCT will likely negatively related to BCVA.

Inclusion criteria:

• DME that will be detected clinically and on FA as well as on SD-OCT [diffuse macular edema with central retinal thickness (CRT) ≥300µm involving the center of the macular area]
• Patients will be included into the present study following informed consent
• Best-corrected-visual-acuity (BCVA) between 0.06 (1.2logMAR) and 0.63 (0.20logMAR).

Exclusion criteria:

• Eyes with other retinal diseases [i.e. age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and associated choroidal neovascularization (CNV), cystoid macular edema (CME) of other origin (e.g. uveitis, Irvine-Gass syndrome, retinal vein occlusion), or retinal dystrophies]