Top 10 RETINA Articles of 2021

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David Xu, MD
Wills Eye Hospital

In this article, we are ranking the top 10 accessed papers published in RETINA in 2021. All of these were high-impact papers from authors in the United States and around the world. The articles spanned the gamut from clinical trial results, review articles, retrospective studies, editorials and even in vitro laboratory work.

We hope that these papers will enlighten and educate you about the wide array of scientific research being conducted that moves our field forward.

Below you will see the list of the top 10 articles as well as a direct link to their publication in RETINA. Congratulations to all the authors for their amazing scientific contributions.

  1. THE ANGIOPOIETIN/TIE PATHWAY IN RETINAL VASCULAR DISEASES
    Heier, Jeffrey; Singh, Rishi; Wykoff, Charles; Csaky, Karl; Lai, Timothy; Loewenstein, Anat; Schlottmann, Patricio; Paris, Liliana; Westenskow, Peter; Quezada-Ruiz, Carlos
     January 2021

    Heier et al. presents an excellent clinicopathologic review of the angiopoietin/Tie pathway as it applies to retinal vascular diseases and neovascular AMD. This pathway is a key regulator of vascular permeability and inflammation, and has garnered recent attention for its role in modulating angiogenic activity in synergy with VEGF signaling. The authors review how expression levels of angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 mediate the “angiogenic switch,” which potentiates VEGF receptor signaling leading to pro-angiogenic drive. This review comes at an especially important time given the FDA acceptance of Roche’s faricimab application, potentially adding a new drug to our armamentarium against retinal vascular diseases and wet AMD.
     

     
  2. MANAGEMENT OF RETINAL PIGMENT EPITHELIUM TEAR DURING ANTI–VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR THERAPY
    Mitchell, Paul; Rodríguez, Francisco; Joussen, Antonia; Koh, Adrian; Eter, Nicole; Wong, David; Korobelnik, Jean-François; Okada, Annabelle
     April 2021

    This was a consensus document from the Vision Academy group in 2017 outlining its recommendations for the management of RPE tears in wet AMD patients treated with anti-VEGF therapy. Three key recommendations were made by the authors: 1) multimodal imaging is recommended to diagnose and follow RPE tears, 2) patients at high risk of developing RPE tear should be monitored after each anti-VEGF injection, and 3) after development of RPE tear, anti-VEGF treatment should be continued.
     

  3. LEBER CONGENITAL AMAUROSIS DUE TO CEP290 MUTATIONS—SEVERE VISION IMPAIRMENT WITH A HIGH UNMET MEDICAL NEED
    Leroy, Bart; Birch, David; Duncan, Jacque; Lam, Byron; Koenekoop, Robert; Porto, Fernanda B.; Russell, Stephen; Girach, Aniz
     May 2021

    Bert et al. report on Leber congenital amaurosis due to CEP290 mutations (LCA10), a severe childhood-onset form of LCA. Currently, no FDA-approved therapies exist and is an unmet need in the field. RNA editing using antisense oligonucleotides and Staphylococcus aureus CRISPR-associated protein-9 nuclease is under investigation for this rare disease.
     

  4. Need for a New Classification of Diabetic Retinopathy
    Jampol, Lee; Tadayoni, Ramin; Ip, Michael
    March 2021

    Jampol et al. authored an editorial calling for a new classification scheme of diabetic retinopathy to address shortcomings of the currently most accepted scheme, the Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Score (DRSS). A new classification scheme could incorporate findings from OCT, widefield angiography, and take into account induced response from anti-VEGF therapy.
     

  5. RETINAL FLUID AND THICKNESS AS MEASURES OF DISEASE ACTIVITY IN NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION
    Kaiser, Peter K.; Wykoff, Charles C.; Singh, Rishi P.; Khanani, Arshad M.; Do, Diana V.; Patel, Hersh; Patel, Nikhil
    May 2021

    In this review, Kaiser et al. summarize the OCT measurement of retinal fluid and thickness in the management of neovascular AMD, specifically its correlation to visual acuity, use as a secondary endpoint in clinical trials, and monitoring of disease activity.
     

  6. PHASE 2 STUDY OF THE SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF BRIMONIDINE DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM (BRIMO DDS) GENERATION 1 IN PATIENTS WITH GEOGRAPHIC ATROPHY SECONDARY TO AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION
    Kuppermann, Baruch; Patel, Sunil; Boyer, David; Augustin, Albert; Freeman, William; Kerr, Kevin; Guo, Qiang; Schneider, Susan; López, Francisco
    January 2021

    This article reported the phase 2 results of the Brimonidine Drug Delivery System (Brimo DDS), a biodegradable intravitreal implant eluting brimonidine, a commonly used glaucoma drug that also has cytoprotective and neuroprotective activity, to treat geographic atrophy secondary to macular degeneration.
     

  7. FOVEA-SPARING VERSUS COMPLETE INTERNAL LIMITING MEMBRANE PEELING IN VITRECTOMY FOR VITREOMACULAR INTERFACE DISEASES
    Wang, Yuelin; Zhao, Xinyu; Zhang, Wenfei; Yang, Jingyuan; Chen, Youxin
    June 2021

    This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated fovea-sparing ILM peeling compared to traditional complete ILM peeling for vitreomacular interface diseases – macular hole, epiretinal membrane, macular foveoschisis, and myopic traction maculopathy. The authors concluded that fovea-sparing ILM peeling significantly improved visual outcomes and decreased complications such as full-thickness macular hole development.
     

  8. PARTICULATE MATTER FROM SYRINGES USED FOR INTRAVITREAL INJECTIONS
    Dounce, Susan; Laskina, Olga; Goldberg, Roger
    April 2021

    This was an in vitro study of dispersed particle loads from 4 syringes with different lubricant coatings commonly used for intravitreal injection. The study found that the syringes have differing intrinsic particle loads which can contribution to injection of particulate matter.
     

  9. EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF INTRAVITREAL AFLIBERCEPT USING A TREAT-AND-EXTEND REGIMEN FOR NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION
    Mitchell, Paul; Holz, Frank G.; Hykin, Philip; Midena, Edoardo; Souied, Eric; Allmeier, Helmut; Lambrou, George; Schmelter, Thomas; Wolf, Sebastian
    September 2021

    The ARIES Study was a randomized trial of an early-start aflibercept treat-and-extend (T&E) protocol versus late start T&E for neovascular AMD. The study aims were to test the noninferiority of T&E starting after 3 initial monthly doses versus after one year of fixed every 8 week dosing.
     

  10. DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA AND CATARACT SURGERY
    Furino, Claudio; Boscia, Francesco; Niro, Alfredo; D’Addario, Maria; Grassi, Maria; Saglimbene, Valeria; Reibaldi, Michele; Alessio, Giovanni
    May 2021

    This retrospective, comparative cohort study compared functional and anatomic outcomes of combined phacoemulsification and dexamethasone intravitreal implant (Ozurdex) with standard phacoemulsification in diabetic patients. The study found that patients with the combined procedure had better postoperative visual acuity and lower central subfield thickness.

Thanks for reading and hope these articles were of interest to you!

Published by retina roundup team