A Case of Diabetic Macular Edema with Improvement in Severity of Diabetic Retinopathy following Frequent Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Treatment.

Abstract

Background: Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug injections are the gold standard for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). We report a case of DME in which frequent anti-VEGF treatment resulted in improvement of diabetic retinopathy. Case: A 73-year old woman with DME who had previously undergone bilateral posterior subtenon injections of triamcinolone acetonide and vitrectomy OD presented at Kyushu University Hospital. Best corrected visual acuity was 0.1 OD and 0.15 OS. The central macular thickness was 1570 μm OD and 578 μm OS. We performed focal macular laser photocoagulation OU but the DME was not resolved. Subsequent intravitreal anti-VEGF drug injections(approximately 20 times/2 years)resulted in an improvement of the best corrected visual acuity (0.3 OD, 0.6 OS) and CMT (1570 μm OD, 578 μm OS). There was an improvement of 2 steps in the Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Scale (DRSS) score OU. Conclusion: Frequent anti-VEGF treatment can improve the severity of diabetic retinopathy.