Characterization of the Systemic Findings of Patients Undergoing Initiation of Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapy for Diabetic Macular Edema in Routine Clinical Practice.

Previous studies have validated that baseline visual acuity (VA) can predict a variance response to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment. However, little is known about the initial systemic presentation of diabetic macular edema (DME) in clinical practice. The aim of this study is to report the baseline systemic findings of patients presenting with DME who received anti-VEGF in clinical practice.A retrospective chart review of patients with DME presenting between April 2012 and December 2016 was performed.Data from 638 patients were retrieved. The average patient age was 63.1 years (±11.6 years), and 53% were male. There were 95.6% type II diabetics with an average HgA1c of 8.1% (range: 5.1% to 14.5%). Insulin use was present in 67%, biguanides in 43%, sulfonylureas in 32.8%, DDP4 inhibitors in 11.8%, thiazolidinediones in 3.9%, and D-phenylalanine derivatives in 0.94%. Hypertension was present in 78.4% of patients, cardiac comorbidities in 29.3%, peripheral vascular disease in 16.5%, and renal insufficiency in 22.6%. Patients were then split into two different cohorts based on VA (ETDRS < 70 and ETDRS ≥ 70), and variables were compared between groups.It was shown that older age, hypertension, elevated creatinine, elevated high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and decreased biguanide use were positively associated with worse presenting VA. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019;50:16-24.].