Ophthalmologica Update: The Peer-reviewed Journal Of EURETINA Edited By Sebastian Woolf

NEW CATETHER PROVIDES SAFE AND EFFECTIVE RETINAL FLUID DRAINAGE External drainage of subretinal fluid (SRF) using a 24-G Optiva IV catheter is safe, efficient and useful in eyes with bullous exudative retinal detachment (RD), new research suggests. In a study involving 13 eyes of 13 patients with bullous exudative RD, SRF drainage was successfully accomplished in all eyes using a transconjunctival scleral incision with the 24-G catheter. Except for one case of localised subretinal haemorrhage, no complications were noted. J Peng et al, “A Modified Technique for the Transconjunctival and Sutureless External Drainage of Subretinal Fluid in Bullous Exudative Retinal Detachment Using a 24-G i.v. Catheter”, Ophthalmologica 2017, Volume 238, Issue 4. THREE-INJECTION LOADING DOSE EXTENDS TREATMENT-FREE INTERVAL In a study involving 61 eyes of 56 patients with myopic choroidal neovascularisation, eyes on a pro re nata (PRN) ranibizumab regimen appeared to achieve about the same visual outcomes whether they received a loading dose of three consecutive monthly injections or a loading dose of just one injection (p= 0.824). However, after a mean follow-up of 53 months, eyes that received the three-injection loading dose had a significantly longer treatment-free interval than those that received the one-injection loading dose (36.9 months vs 19.2 months; p < 0.001). 
C Calvo-González et al, “Long-Term Outcomes of Two Different Initial Dosing Regimens of Intravitreal Ranibizumab Used to Treat Myopic Choroidal Neovascularization”, Ophthalmologica 2017, Volume 238, Issue 4. EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT ACHIEVES BETTER LONG-TERM RESULTS IN NEOVASCULAR AMD Eyes with neovascular AMD treated early in the course of their disease appear to remain responsive to anti-VEGF therapy longer than those with more advanced disease at the time treatment is initiated, according to the findings of a retrospective review study. It showed that among 67 eyes consecutively treated with more than 30 intravitreal anti-VEGF injections between 2007 and 2014, those with good final visual acuity also had better initial VA (p = 0.020) and maintained it. In contrast, patients with moderate-to-poor final VA improved significantly after the first three monthly injections, and thereafter deteriorated consistently, mostly during the third (p = 0.019) and fourth (p = 0.006) years. Patients with initially moderate-to-poor vision also had more scarring and intraretinal fluid. O.Sagiv et all, “Different Clinical Courses on Long-Term Follow-Up of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Patients Treated with Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Injections”, Ophthalmologica 2017, Volume 238, Issue 4.