Intravitreal pegaptanib sodium (Macugen) for diabetic macular oedema.
OBJECTIVE
To report the functional and anatomical outcomes resulting from the use of intravitreal pegaptanib sodium (Macugen) in patients with diabetic macular oedema (DMO).


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective outcome analysis, by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), of eyes with DMO treated with intravitreal pegaptanib sodium. Moreover, we evaluated the foveal transverse photoreceptor (PR) band integrity in the OCT images at the time of the last follow-up visit.


RESULTS
Sixty-three eyes of 48 patients with a minimum of 6 months of follow-up were included for analysis. Intravitreal pegaptanib was found to produce significant improvements in mean BCVA (p = 0.019) and reductions in mean central macular thickness (CMT) (p < 0.001) as soon as the 6-week follow-up. Most eyes (60/63) required a mean of 3.03 +/- 0.9 repeated treatments, over a mean follow-up period of 6.7 +/- 1.2 months, to achieve significant improvements in mean BCVA (p < 0.001) and mean CMT (p < 0.001). In our series, the lower visual acuities tended to congregate in the group with the less-defined PR band (p < 0.001) and the lower CMT tended to congregate in the group with the best-defined PR band (p = 0.04), even though the higher CMT did not tend to congregate in the group with the less-defined PR band.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings demonstrate that selective inhibition by intravitreal pegaptanib sodium of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-165 may produce a clinically meaningful and statistically significant benefit in the treatment of DMO.
Querques
Giuseppe
G
Department of Ophthalmology, Riuniti Hospital, University of Foggia, Italy. giuseppe.querques@hotmail.it
Bux
Anna V
AV
Martinelli
Domenico
D
Iaculli
Cristiana
C
Noci
Nicola D
ND
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000187:drug effects; D014822:Vitreous Body
D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C495058:pegaptanib