Ranibizumab may improve retinal function and structure in DME

Treatment of diabetic macular oedema (DME) with ranibizumab may improve retinal function and structure, according to researchers from the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College, London Institute of Ophthalmology.

They conducted this prospective, randomized, single-masked clinical trial in 33 eyes of 33 patients with centre-involved DME, with BCVA of 55 to 79, as measured by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters at baseline. For this 48-week study, patients were randomized 2:1 to treatment with ranibizumab (with three loading doses followed by one re-treatment as required) or macular laser therapy (at baseline and repeated as needed every 12 weeks).

Patients treated with ranibizumab gained 6.0 letters compared with 0.9 letters lost for laser. They also showed improved tritan and protan colour contrast thresholds and improved retinal sensitivity and electrophysiologic function. Patients in the ranibizumab treatment group also exhibited retinal thickness reduction and structural improvement in optical coherence tomography features of DME, compared with those in the laser treated group. Finally, in patients treated with ranibizumab, no evidence of progressive ischaemia was seen.

To view the abstract of this study, published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, click here.