Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Biomarkers Predict Anatomical Response to Bevacizumab in Diabetic Macular Edema

Purpose: To identify biomarkers that may predict an early anatomical response to the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) by means of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods: This study is a retrospective study of treatment-naive patients with DME who underwent 6 x 6 mm OCTA imaging of the macula at baseline and after three monthly IVB injections. Thirty-six eyes of 23 patients were included. Eyes that demonstrated evidence of an early anatomical response, consisting of a >10% decrease in central macular thickness (CMT) (n = 18), were compared with those eyes that failed to show such an improvement (n = 18). Results: At baseline, early-response eyes had worse starting best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA, LogMAR 0.84 +/- 0.41 versus LogMAR 0.51 +/- 0.15, p = 0.004) and a larger CMT (490 +/- 135 mu m versus 356 +/- 33 mu m, p = 0.001), but smaller foveal avascular zones (FAZ) (0.309 +/- 0.098mm versus 0.413 +/- 0.095 mm, p = 0.003) compared with eyes that proved refractory to three monthly injections of IVB. The vascular density (VD) in both the foveal superficial and deep capillary plexuses was significantly greater in eyes that showed an early-treatment response compared with eyes that were non-responders (24.86 +/- 6.90% versus 19.98 +/- 7.13%, p = 0.045 and 32.30 +/- 4.88% versus 26.95 +/- 7.25%, p = 0.028, respectively). Early-treatment response to IVB was predicted by starting CMT (r(2)= 0.266, p = 0.001), FAZ size (r(2)= 0.234, p = 0.003), and VD in the superficial parafovea (r(2)= 0.217, p = 0.004) and deep fovea (r(2)= 0.157, p = 0.037). Conclusion: Projection-resolved OCTA may be useful in predicting an early anatomical response of DME to treatment with IVB.

Automated summary

This study aimed to identify biomarkers that can predict an early anatomical response to intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) treatment in diabetic macular edema (DME) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). The study found that eyes with an early anatomical response had worse baseline visual acuity, larger central macular thickness, smaller foveal avascular zones, and higher vascular density in the foveal superficial and deep capillary plexuses compared to non-responding eyes. Starting central macular thickness, foveal avascular zone size, and vascular density were found to be predictive of early treatment response to IVB.