Evidence mapPaperPMID 42401762Full record

ArticleOphthalmology and therapy2026

Aflibercept 24-Month Outcomes in Diabetic Macular Edema With and Without Prior Macular Laser Therapy: Data from the Fight Retinal Blindness! Registry.

Luca Timoceanu, Sarah Steinmann, Mark C Gillies, Daniel Barthelmes

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Article in Ophthalmology and therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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.

Luca TimoceanuDepartment of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. luca.timoceanu@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-3740-5748
Sarah SteinmannDepartment of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-7491-9810
Mark C GilliesSave Sight Institute, The Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8580-0274
Daniel BarthelmesDepartment of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5431-4991

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionWe evaluated 24-month real-world outcomes of intravitreal aflibercept 2 mg for diabetic macular edema (DME) in treatment-naive eyes and eyes previously treated with macular thermal laser photocoagulation.

methodsThis retrospective observational cohort study analyzed data from a prospectively designed treatment outcomes registry. We described outcomes separately in treatment-naive eyes and eyes previously treated with macular thermal laser photocoagulation, all of which received intravitreal aflibercept 2 mg for DME in routine clinical practice. Given the small number of eyes with prior macular laser, findings in this subgroup were considered descriptive and exploratory. The main functional outcome was change in visual acuity (VA) from baseline at 6, 12, and 24 months. The main anatomical outcome was change in central subfield thickness (CST) from baseline at the same time points. Secondary outcomes were injection and visit burden, changes in center-involving clinically significant macular edema activity, time to additional macular laser treatment, and ocular adverse events.

resultsThe cohort included 122 eyes from 78 patients: 110 treatment-naive eyes and 12 eyes with prior macular laser. In treatment-naive eyes, mean VA improved from baseline by 5.5, 5.0, and 5.5 letters at 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively. Mean CST decreased by 105.9 µm, 90.4 µm, and 97.1 µm, respectively. In eyes with prior macular laser, changes in VA were not statistically significant at any follow-up point. CST decreased significantly at 6 months (-36.5 µm) and 12 months (-37.5 µm), but not at 24 months (-26.1 µm). By month 24, the median number of injections was 12 in treatment-naive eyes and 11 in eyes with prior macular laser. Additional macular laser was rarely needed, and ocular adverse events were rare.

conclusionsIn routine clinical care, intravitreal aflibercept 2 mg for DME was associated with sustained anatomical improvement and modest, largely stable visual gains over 24 months, particularly in treatment-naive eyes. These findings support favorable real-world outcomes with aflibercept, although subgroup findings in eyes with prior macular laser should be interpreted cautiously.

Indexed as

AfliberceptAnti-VEGFDiabetic macular edemaDiabetic retinopathyMacular laserReal-world data

Identifiers

PMID42401762
PMCPMC13424033

What Socratic holds

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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.