Extended indications for anti-VEGF treatment in proliferative diabetic retinopathy will affect services, costs

VIENNA — Following the conclusions of DRCR.net Protocol S, anti-VEGFs are likely to be used more and earlier in the treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. At the Advanced Retinal Therapy meeting, Simon Harding, MD, chair of Clinical Ophthalmology at Liverpool University, U.K., expressed concern about the rising costs of therapy in future years.In Liverpool, in a diabetic population of 22,432, 856 laser procedures were performed in 319 patients in 2015. Based on a previous audit, it can be assumed that about 50% of these patients had proliferative diabetic retinopathy.