Recent Breakthroughs and Future Directions in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy
The prevalence of diabetes mellitus continues to rise at an alarming rate worldwide. The ripple effect for eye providers is a staggering increase in need for diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy and its complications. Over the past nearly two decades, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatments, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and wide-field fluorescein angiography and OCT angiography have revolutionized the treatment of diabetic retinopathy and answered many previously unmet needs in this space.
Still, as long-standing questions have been answered, more and more queries surface. For example, are there long-term beneficial effects to intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy even after stopping treatment? Are there wide-field angiography findings that indicate potential for better outcomes in high-risk proliferative diabetic retinopathy with pan retinal laser versus anti-VEGF therapy? How best can we leverage artificial intelligence and telehealth ventures to best capture patients with diabetic retinopathy early and prevent devastating complications? The answers to these questions will allow physicians and other key stakeholders to approach the diabetic retinopathy epidemic in a measured, organized, and scientific fashion to prevent society-threatening large-scale visual disability.
The goal of this Article Collection is to solicit the contribution and submission of manuscripts examining topics related to the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy. We invite contributions on a broad range of topics, including but not limited to:
-
Telehealth/remote screening models and applications for diabetic retinopathy.
-
Artificial intelligence applications in diabetic retinopathy diagnosis and treatment.
-
Lifestyle and systemic pharmacological modification of diabetic retinopathy risk and severity.
-
Applications of imaging technologies including wide-field fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), and swept-source OCT in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy.
-
Laser applications, including but not limited to pan retinal laser photocoagulation, micro pulse laser, and focal thermal laser therapy.
-
The effect of intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment and/or cessation of treatment on diabetic retinopathy.
-
Surgical interventions for diabetic retinopathy, including pars plana vitrectomy.
-
Patient socioeconomic factors associated with outcomes in diabetic retinopathy including but not limited to barriers to ophthalmologic follow-up, barriers to optimizing blood sugar control, and access to care issues.
-
Basic science and translational research examining diabetic retinopathy diagnosis and treatment in cellular and/or animal models.