J Retin.  2023 Nov;8(2):105-110. 10.21561/jor.2023.8.2.105.

The Short-term Treatment Efficacy of Intravitreal Ranibizumab Injection in TreatmentNaïve Patients with Diabetic Macular Edema

• Seo JS
• Kwon L
• Cho YW
• Yoo Ws
• Chung IY

• KMID: 2552097
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.21561/jor.2023.8.2.105

Abstract

Purpose
To evaluate the clinical outcomes of treatment-naïve patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) treated with intravitreal ranibizumab injections.
Methods
This study included 25 eyes in 21 DME patients who had received no previous treatment. The patients were divided into two groups, loading and non-loading groups. The loading group was treated with 3 consectutive monthly intravitreal ranibizumab injections, and the non-loading group was treated pro re nata. The best corrected visual acuity and central retinal thickness were compared after intravitreal ranibizumab injections. Patients were also divided into the responsive and the limited responsive groups according to the effect of treatment and analyzed retrospectively.
Results
The central retinal thickness decreased after intravitreal injections in both the loading and the non-loading groups, and the change was statistically significant 7 months after treatment. The final central retinal thickness was significantly lower in the responsive group. The proportion of the loading group in the responsive group was significantly higher than that of limited responsive group.
Conclusions
Intravitreal ranibizumab injection is a useful treatment for a short-term improvement of DME, especially in the loading group, but a long-term follow-up also should be considered.

Keyword

Diabetes mellitus; Intravitreal injection; Macular edema; Ranibizumab