A systematic review of clinical trials notes that topical eye drops may lead to favorable retinal and visual outcomes, despite heterogeneity across multiple studies.
Findings from a systematic review highlight the potential of topical treatments for patients with diabetic retinopathies. However, while certain studies demonstrated favorable results for eye drops, others were still more heterogeneous in their findings.
Currently, there is a dearth of evidence to corroborate the efficacy of topical eye drops; however, recent studies in animal models have shown there to be an effect via various pathogenic pathways.
A team led by Mikkel Thagaard, MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Odense University Hospital, conducted a review of 19 studies, all of which evaluated patients with diabetic retinopathy and/or diabetic macular edema. The goal of their analysis was to ascertain whether topical treatments could have an effect on disease change or progression.
Systematic Review: Summary Findings
Thagaard and colleagues utilized PubMed, Embase, and Scopus to search for relevant and appropriate studies. All eligible and evaluated studies were a mix of randomized clinical trials and non-randomized trials and were heterogeneous in a target population, interventions, and outcome measure.
Of those included in the meta-analysis, 13 investigated topical eye drop use in DME populations. Further, 3 of those studies were randomized clinical trials, which generally showed favorable outcomes associated with treatment.
For example, Ohira et al (2015)—which compared 1.5% dexamethasone y-cyclodextrin nanoparticles (DexNP) with triamcinolone acetonide injection in patients with central DM— reported that topical treatment was associated with an increase in best-corrected visual acuity (BVCA) and decrease in macular thickness……Read More: https://www.hcplive.com/view/topical-treatments-diabetic-retinopathy-dme-hold-promise
Source: HCP Live