The HCPLive diabetic macular edema page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on DME. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for the leading cause of blindness, and more.
May 13th 2024
At the end of ARVO 2024, Srinivas R. Sadda, MD, became the organization's president for the 2024-2025 year. He spoke to HCPLive about his expectations for the next year in eye care.
Aleksandra Rachitskaya from Cole Eye Institute: ARGUS II Provides Hope of New Vision for Patients
For patients with retinitis pigmentosa the loss of vision can be a difficult consequence of the condition. An implanted device may not give them back the sight they once had but it can provide a chance to see the world around them in a new way.
Aleksandra Rachitskaya: New Technologies Provide Hope for Visually Impaired Patients
As technology improves across the medical spectrum new devices, including implants, are providing help for patients who just a few years ago may not have had any treatment options available.
Good Vision in One Eye Could Help Prevent Sleep Problems in AMD
August 12th 2016Researchers set out to see how prevalent sleep problems are in people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at the 34th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS 2016) in San Francisco, California.
Referral Rates Are Hurting People at Risk for Vision-Threatening Diabetic Retinopathy
August 11th 2016Despite established criteria for patients at risk for vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy from the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), referral rates don’t reflect the number of people who should visit optometrists, ophthalmologists, and retina specialists.
Tarek Hassan: New Journal to Expand Education Efforts of ASRS
As new treatments and procedures are developed in the field of retinal medicine the American Society of Retina Specialists is launching its own journal to help its members and others in the field advance patient care.
A Multi-Faceted Approach to Preventing Macular Degeneration
To prevent processes that cause macular degeneration, the researchers employed a one-two punch treatment."CD59 prevents the final step of attack that forms the pore. Once a pore forms, the cell can move a lysosome to close it."
Wet AMD Treatment Outcomes Look Misleadingly Better in Clinical Trials
August 10th 2016An analysis presented at the 34th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS 2016) in San Francisco, California looked at “real world†outcomes with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
AMD: Gene Expression Pathways React Differently to Various Anti-VEGF Drugs
August 10th 2016Baruch Kuppermann, MD, PhD, and colleagues looked at gene expression modifications in retinal Müller cells treated with anti-VEGFs at the 34th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS 2016) in San Francisco, California.
Ranibizumab's Impact on Pigment Epithelial Detachment With or Without RPE Tears
August 10th 2016David Eichenbaum, MD, an ophthalmologist from Florida, presented data from the HARBOR study at the 34th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS 2016) in San Francisco, California.
In Patients with Wet AMD, Cataract Surgery Shown Not to Increase Need for Anti-VEGF Injections
A Danish electronic records review found that the need for Eylea or Lucentis injections for wet age-related macular degeneration did not change after cataract surgery. Also, vision improved more when the time from last injection to cataract surgery was shorter than when it was longer.
Patients in the open-label extension phase of RIDE/RISE who needed Lucentis less frequently tended to have less advanced diabetic macular edema (DME) at extension baseline and to respond better to initial treatment, according to post hoc analysis. These results suggest that earlier treatment of center-involving DME with loss of visual acuity may decrease its long-term treatment burden.
The rate of endophthalmitis after more than 90,000 intravitreal injections was found to be approximately 1 in 3000 in a retrospective study of a consecutive series of cases at a multicenter, retina-only practice. Prophylactic use of topical antibiotics was not found to decrease this rate.
Assessing Rates of Noninfectious Vitritis after Intravitreal Injection of Anti-VEGF Agents
Although intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents has become the therapeutic mainstay for diabetic macular edema and neovascular age-related macular degeneration, it poses a risk of noninfectious uveitis or infectious endopthalmitis.
A retrospective chart review study showed that the location of subfoveal fibrovascular scarring in relation to the retinal pigment epithelium correlated with visual outcome in eyes successfully treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
Oral Bisphosphonate Use Poses Risk of Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Regular users of oral bisphosphonates had a higher risk of developing wet age-related macular degeneration than non-users, according to results of a recent Canadian study, and the longer the use, the greater the increased risk.
Intraocular injections of methotrexate have been used successfully to treat indeterminate and sarcoid uveitis as well as age-related macular degeneration. Methotrexate injection’s record of success in treating these inflammatory eye diseases prompted researchers to evaluate its efficacy in treating persistent diabetic macular edema.
Patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration have shown a suboptimal response to ranibizumab over time. Several studies have established that switching from ranibizumab to aflibercept enhanced visual acuity and resulted in anatomic improvement in many of these patients, but the factors determining visual outcomes remained unclear.