Short-Term Outcomes of Intravitreal Faricimab Injection for Diabetic Macular Edema.

Background and

Objectives

Faricimab is a novel bispecific antibody with Fab regions inhibiting both vascular endothelial growth factor-A and angiopoietin-2. Therefore, this study aimed to obtain short-term outcomes of intravitreal injection of faricimab (IVF) for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) in daily clinical practice. Materials and

Methods

A retrospective review was carried out on consecutive patients with DME who had been treated with IVF and were followed up for at least 1 month. Outcome measures included changes in logMAR best-corrected visual acuity (logMAR BCVA), central retinal thickness (CRT), number of IVF administrations, and safety. Clinical outcomes were also compared between the treatment-naïve and switch groups.

Results

A total of 21 consecutive DME eyes from 19 patients were identified. The mean number of IVFs was 1.6 ± 0.8 during the mean follow-up time of 5.5 months. The overall mean logMAR BCVA following IVF was 0.236, 0.204, 0.190, and 0.224 at baseline, 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively, without a significant change from baseline to 1 month (p = 0.176) or for 6 months (p = 0.923). The overall mean CRT (μm) following IVF was 400.6, 346.6, 342.1, and 327.5 at baseline, 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. CRT significantly decreased from baseline to 1 month (p = 0.001) but did not reach a significant level over 6 months following IVF (p = 0.070). No significant difference in BCVA or CRT was observed between the treatment-naïve and switch groups. No serious safety concerns were noted.

Conclusions

IVF for the treatment of DME may preserve visual acuity and improve macular thickness without serious safety concerns in the short term in a real-world clinical setting.