EURETINA award lecture
This issue of Ophthalmologica includes the text of the EURETINA lecture, which Francine Behar-Cohen MD PhD delivered at the 17th EURETINA Congress in Barcelona, Spain. In her presentation she stresses the need for a better understanding of corticosteroids’ mechanisms of action in order to optimise their use in the treatment of ocular inflammatory conditions. She cites research indicating that glucocorticoids may induce retinal cell death through pathways undetectable by classical toxicology tests. She adds that a combination of low doses of glucocorticoids together with antagonists to mineralocorticoid receptors holds promise as a therapeutic strategy for treating ocular inflammation.
F Behar-Cohen, “Towards an Optimized Use of Ocular Corticosteroids: EURETINA Award Lecture 2017”, Ophthalmologica 2018, Volume 240, Issue 2.
Early treatment for ME secondary to BRVO provides best results
Patients with macular oedema (ME) related to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) who receive intravitreal dexamethasone implants within the first few months of the condition’s onset achieve greater, more rapid and longer-lasting visual improvements and morphological improvements than those who receive the implant at a later stage in their disease, according to the results of the multi-centre COBALT study. Among 71 BRVO patients who had ME for less than three months, the mean improvement in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 18.6 letters and 15.3 letters at six and 12 months respectively, following an initial injection of the dexamethasone implant. Over the 12-month treatment period, 32% received one injection and 49% of patients received three injections.
YH Yoon et al, “Dexamethasone Intravitreal Implant for Early Treatment and Retreatment of Macular Edema Related to Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion: The Multicenter COBALT Study”, Ophthalmologica 2018, Volume 240, Issue 2.
Bevacizumab and ranibizumab show similar efficacy in ROP
The findings of a retrospective study suggest that bevacizumab and ranibizumab have similar efficacy in the treatment of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) affecting zone 1. The retrospective study included 68 eyes of 37 patients. All had initial disease regression, although four patients who received bevacizumab and two who received ranibizumab showed reactivation (p = 0.679) and 15 eyes in the bevacizumab group and 12 in the ranibizumab had incomplete vascularisation (p = 0.725). The mean spherical equivalent refraction at one year was more myopic in the bevacizumab group (-1.49 D) than in in the ranibizumab group (0.98D) (p < 0.001).
S Kimyon et al, “Comparison of Bevacizumab and Ranibizumab in the Treatment of Type 1 Retinopathy of Prematurity Affecting Zone 1” Ophthalmologica 2018, Volume 240, issue 2.
