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Reduced diabetic retinopathy severity can enhance functional vision

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BOSTON — Ranibizumab treatment for diabetic retinopathy, with or without diabetic macular edema, may regress the severity of the retinopathy to a milder stage, thus enhancing other visual function outcomes, Jeffrey R. Willis, MD, PhD, said in a study presented at the American Society of Retina Specialists meeting.

Adult patients with proliferative or nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy report significant functional and visual function difficulties, but treatment with Lucentis (Genentech) has been shown to reduce diabetic retinopathy by two steps or greater at 1-year follow-up, Willis said.

“Ranibizumab treatment for diabetic eye disease not only improves visual acuity, but contributes to diabetic retinopathy regression to a milder stage. Ranibizumab can potentially enhance the visual function of patients with severe forms of diabetic retinopathy,” Willis said.

Willis presented the findings of a cross-sectional study of the 2005 to 2006 and 2007 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data of adults 40 years of age and older with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

The odds of patients experiencing “significant visual function difficulty,” defined as moderate or greater difficulty with reading, visual-spatial tasks, mobility and driving, were greater in those with severe NPDR and PDR compared with no DR and mild/moderate DR (P = .02). However, patients with severe NPDR/PDR treated with ranibizumab have been shown in both the RIDE/RISE and DRCR.net Protocol S studies to regress to mild/moderate NPDR, thus having potential for visual function improvement, according to Willis. – by Robert Linnehan

Reference:

Willis JR, et al. The functional burden of diabetic retinopathy in the United States – How ranibizumab may shift treatment paradigms. Presented at: American Society of Retina Specialists 35th Annual Meeting, Aug. 11-15, 2017; Boston.

Disclosure: Willis reports he is an employee of Genentech, which provided funding for the study.