20 Feb Model Show Lucentis Markedly Reduces Blindness From Diabetes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Rohit Varma, MD, MPH
Professor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology
USC Eye Institute, Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Varma: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 4.4% of adults with diabetes aged 40 and older have advanced diabetic retinopathy that may result in severe vision loss. Clinical trials have shown that intravitreal injections of anti-VEGFs, such as ranibizumab, can reduce visual impairment and even in some cases improve visual acuity outcomes in patients with diabetic macular edema. We developed a model, based on data from the RIDE and RISE clinical trials, to estimate the impact of ranibizumab treatment on the number of cases of vision loss and blindness avoided in non-Hispanic white and Hispanic persons with diabetic macular edema in the United States.Results from the model suggest that, compared with no treatment, every-4-week ranibizumab 0.3 mg reduces legal blindness between 58%-88% and reduces vision impairment between 36%-53% over 2 years in this population.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Varma: Our results emphasize the importance of treating diabetic macular edema (DME) and the role of anti-VEGFs in the prevention of vision loss. These data are particularly important given the large number of individuals with diabetic retinopathy in the United States, including those in the workforce
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Varma: At this time, we do not yet know how well this diabetic macular edema model translates to clinical practice. Therefore, future research should include examining the impact of the use anti-VEGFs on visual impairment and blindness prevalence in individuals with diabetic macular edema in the real world setting of clinical practice. Additionally, as this analysis was limited to a population of Hispanic and non-Hispanic white individuals in the United States, it would be important to expand the research to include other racial/ethnic groups.
Citation:
Varma, Rohit et al. Ophthalmology
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, & Rohit Varma, MD, MPH (2015). Model Show Lucentis Markedly Reduces Blindness From Diabetes MedicalResearch.com
Last Updated on February 20, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD