Comparison of 12-month therapeutic effect of conbercept and ranibizumab for diabetic macular edema: a real-life clinical practice study

Background To compare the efficacy of intravitreal conbercept and ranibizumab in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) in a real-life clinical practice. Methods This was a retrospective study. Among 62 Chinese patients with DME, 32 patients (36 eyes) received intravitreal conbercept (IVC) injections and 30 patients (32 eyes) received intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) injections, once a month for 3 months followed by as needed therapy. All participants had at least 12 months of follow-up. We compared the changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) letter score and central retinal thickness (CRT) between groups, as well as the number of intravitreal injections delivered. Safety was assessed with the incidence of adverse events (AEs). Results At month 12, the mean BCVA letter score improved by 9.3 ± 5.2 with conbercept, and by 8.9 ± 4.4 with ranibizumab, the mean CRT reduction was 138.4 ± 97.7 μm and 145.2 ± 72.5 μm, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference of improvement in BCVA ( P = 0.756) and decrease in CRT ( P = 0.748) between the two groups. The number of intravitreal injections delivered was significantly higher ( P = 0.027) in the IVR group (7.2 ± 1.0 per eye) than in the IVC group (6.6 ± 0.9 per eye). There were no severe ocular adverse reactions or systemic adverse events. Conclusions Both conbercept and ranibizumab are effective in the treatment of DME, achieving the similar clinical efficacy. In comparison to ranibizumab, conbercept shows a longer treatment interval and fewer intravitreal conbercept injections are needed.