Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy in diabetic macular edema: real-life outcomes from a multicenter study in Turkey over 36 months

Purpose This study aimed to report the visual and anatomical outcomes of intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME) in a real-world clinical setting from Turkey over 36 months. Methods This is a retrospective, multicenter (7 sites) study. The medical records of 1072 eyes (both previously treated and naive eyes) of 706 consecutive patients with visual impairment due to center-involving DME treated with intravitreal anti-VEGF injections between April 2007 and February 2017 were reviewed. The eyes were divided into mutually exclusive three groups based on the duration of follow-up (12, 24, or 36 months). Primary outcome measures were changes in visual acuity (VA) and central macular thickness (CMT) from baseline to final visit in each cohort, frequency of visits and intravitreal anti-VEGF injections. As secondary endpoints, VA outcomes were assessed in subgroups stratified by baseline VA [