Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40689259›Full record

ArticleOphthalmology science

Treatment Cessation in Patients with Diabetic Maculopathy under Intravitreal Anti-VEGF Therapy Following a Treat-and-Extend Protocol.

Lucia Saucedo, Isabel B Pfister, Christin Schild, Justus G Garweg

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Ophthalmology science. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Lucia SaucedoSwiss Eye Institute, Rotkreuz, Berner Augenklinik, Bern, Switzerland.
Isabel B PfisterSwiss Eye Institute, Rotkreuz, Berner Augenklinik, Bern, Switzerland.
Christin SchildSwiss Eye Institute, Rotkreuz, Berner Augenklinik, Bern, Switzerland.
Justus G GarwegSwiss Eye Institute, Rotkreuz, Berner Augenklinik, Bern, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: To assess the outcomes of treatment cessation due to disease stability in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME). Design: A single-center, retrospective, consecutive case series. Subjects: Patients with DME who had received their first anti-VEGF treatment between 2012 and 2021, a Snellen best-corrected visual acuity (VA) ≥0.1, and a follow-up of ≥24 months. Methods: Baseline characteristics, best-corrected VA, OCT biomarkers over time, and injection details were collected from patients' medical records. Treatment interruption was defined as a treatment-free interval of ≥25 weeks after the last injection for any reason. An active decision for treatment interruption due to a stable retinal situation was defined as treatment cessation. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Main Outcome Measures: Percentage of patients experiencing treatment cessation, time to treatment cessation and to reuptake, and change in best-corrected VA and central retinal thickness. Results: Beyond 109 eyes treated over ≥24 months, 81 eyes (62 patients) met the inclusion criteria. During a follow-up of 5.5 ± 2.3 (median 5) years, patients received 22.6 ± 14.9 (median 20) intravitreal injections, 7.7 ± 3.0 (8.0) of these in the first year. Fifty-seven eyes (70.4%) experienced ≥1 planned treatment cessation of ≥25 weeks, while 4 eyes experienced an unplanned treatment interruption. Treatment cessation was documented in 53 eyes (65.4%) 65.2 ± 52.4 (median 42) weeks after treatment initiation for 106.2 ± 110.4 (median 54) weeks. The reason for treatment cessation was patient-driven in 1 eye (1.9%; the patient wished to stop treatment against medical advice), physician-driven in 38 eyes (71.7%; stable VA, despite persisting residual retinal fluid in OCT), and OCT-driven in 14 eyes (26.4%; no retinal fluid in OCT). Baseline parameters were comparable between eyes experiencing treatment cessation and those which did not. Conclusions: Treatment cessation was achieved in 70% of eyes with DME after intensive treatment during the first year. This calls for a discussion about a possible systematic assessment of disease stability by omitting a single injection in eyes with stable residual retinal fluid. Financial Disclosures: Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Indexed as

Anti-VEGF treatmentDiabetic macular edemadiabetic retinopathyTreatment cessationTreatment interruption

Identifiers

PMID40689259
PMCPMC12273413

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.