A Prospective Study to Identify Predictive Factors for Progression and Regression of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy in Patients Receiving Standard Panretinal Laser Photocoagulation.

IMPETUS 2018 - DETECT is a six-month prospective study involving 90 treatment-naïve diabetes patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) referred for panretinal laser photocoagulation (PRP) treatment to the Department of Ophthalmology, Odense University Hospital between July 1st 2014 and June 30th 2015.

Project information will be given prior to the study to the ophthalmological departments of and to all private practicing ophthalmologists in the Region of Southern Denmark. Patients will at baseline have a standard examination that will include wide-field fundus photography, wide-field fluorescein angiography and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in order to confirm the diagnosis of PDR. If they meet the criteria of inclusion and not those of exclusion, they will be informed of the study verbally and writing and offered the chance to participate. Prior to the first session of PRP patients enrolled in the study will receive the rest of the baseline examinations including retinal oximetry. Standard PRP treatment will be given in two sessions by a trained doctor.

Patients will be re-examined at month 3 and 6 and progression/regression of PDR will be evaluated by measuring the amount of fluorescein leakage by wide-field fluorescein angiography at 1, 5 and 10 minutes. For patients with regression, supplementary PRP will be offered. After the final examination at month 6, patients will be referred back to their primary ophthalmologist.

A study nurse and a photographer will be assigned to the project. All examinations will be standardized and the study crew will be fully certified. Data will be analyzed with respect to the endpoint of the study (Stata 13, StataCorp, College Station, Texas) and also used to create the algorithm to be used for individualized treatment in IMPETUS 2018 - TREAT.

In the Region of Southern Denmark it is estimated that 200 treatment naïve patients with PDR will be referred for treatment annually. With an estimated participation rate of 50% and a subsequent dropout rate of 10%, IMPETUS 2018 - DETECT will include 90 patients. A traditional power calculation is not feasibly due to the design of the study with multiple outcomes studies.