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RecruitingNCT05728476Updated Mar 6, 2024

Microinvasive Pars Plana Vitrectomy Combined ILM Peeling Versus Anti-VEGF Intravitreal Injection for Treatment-naïve Diabetic Macular Edema

An interventional study of Vitrectomy combined with ILM peeling and Conbercept intravitreal injection in Diabetic Macular Edema, Pars Plana Vitrectomy and Conbercept, sponsored by Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-03-06.

Sponsored by Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Sep 2025, 1 year 2 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Mar 2024; still recruiting 2 years 8 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
102
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the main cause of vision loss in patients with diabetes. At present, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) intravitreal injection is the first-line therapy for DME, nevertheless, some patients do not respond well to anti-VEGF agents and often require multiple injections, which increases the psychological and economic burden of patients. Microinvasive pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) has been proven to be safe and effective for refractory DME. However, there are few studies on treatment-naïve DME. The purpose of this study is to explore whether early PPV combined with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling can reduce the treatment burden of DME patients, prevent vision loss, and maintain long-term stabilization of diabetic retinopathy.

02

Conditions studied

  • Diabetic Macular Edema
  • Pars Plana Vitrectomy
  • Conbercept

Browse trials for

03

In context

Macular Edema

756 studies on the registry are indexed under Macular Edema; 65 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 102 is above the median of 56 across 584 interventional studies indexed under Macular Edema.

Browse Macular Edema studies →

Lead sponsor

Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital is the lead sponsor of 18 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • ≥18 years of age
  • Patients and their families fully understand the research and sign the form
  • Diagnosed with type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus
  • (HbA1c) of less than 10% within 3 months
  • Clear media for adequate OCT and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images
  • Treatment-naïve DME diagnosed clinically
  • Central subfield thickness (CST) of >300μm and intra- or subretinal fluid seen on (spectral-domain) SD-OCT
  • Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) BCVA between 24 and 73 letters on the day of randomization
  • Treatment within 12 months of DME diagnosis
  • No of vitrectomy or conbercept intravitreal injection

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any previous DME treatment (i.e. anti-VEGF injections, intraocular , macular photocoagulation)
  • Macular edema caused by other disease (i.e. neovascular age-related macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion, uveitis)
  • Any previous intraocular surgeries (cataract surgery performed at least 3 months before study entry will not be exclusionary)
  • Vision loss caused by other ocular disease (i.e. cataract, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, high myopia)
  • A follow-up duration of less than 12 months
  • Severe dysfunction of the heart, liver, kidney, lung and other organs
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(4)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

HbA1c

A blood test of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, given as a percentage or in mmol/mol. 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or more is the usual threshold for diabetes, normally confirmed by a second test.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
102 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Vitrectomy group

    Standard 25-gauge PPV will be performed by an experienced surgeon under retrobulbar anesthesia. After clearing the central vitreous, a complete posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) will be achieved with aspiration to remove the tightly attached posterior hyaloid. The vitreous will be removed by a high-speed vitrectomy surgical system (Constellation Vision System, Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, Texas, USA). The ILM stained with indocyanine green (ICG) will be peeled up to the vascular arcades. In case of need, panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) can be performed during surgery. The vitreous cavity will be filled with balanced salt solution (BSS) at the end of the procedure.

    Procedure: Vitrectomy combined with ILM peeling

  • Active comparator
    Anti-VEGF group

    Patients will receive three monthly intravitreal injections of 0.5 mg Conbercept (Chengdu Kanghong Biotech Co.) with a 30-gauge syringe needle approximately 3.5-4 mm posterior to the corneal limbus under topical anesthesia.

    Drug: Conbercept intravitreal injection

Interventions

  • ProcedureVitrectomy combined with ILM peeling

    Standard 25-gauge PPV will be performed by an experienced surgeon under retrobulbar anesthesia. After clearing the central vitreous, a complete posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) will be achieved with aspiration to remove the tightly attached posterior hyaloid. The vitreous will be removed by a high-speed vitrectomy surgical system (Constellation Vision System, Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, Texas, USA). The ILM stained with indocyanine green (ICG) will be peeled up to the vascular arcades. In case of need, panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) can be performed during surgery. The vitreous cavity will be filled with balanced salt solution (BSS) at the end of the procedure.

  • DrugConbercept intravitreal injection

    Patients will receive three monthly intravitreal injections of 0.5 mg Conbercept (Chengdu Kanghong Biotech Co.) with a 30-gauge syringe needle approximately 3.5-4 mm posterior to the corneal limbus under topical anesthesia.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Best corrected visual acuity change (BCVA)

    Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) Alphabet Chart

    Time frame: 1, 3, 6, 12 month postoperatively

  2. Central subfield thickness (CST) change

    Three-dimensional spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)

    Time frame: 1, 3, 6, 12 month postoperatively

Secondary outcomes

  1. The stage of diabetic retinopathy (DR)

    The grading and classification of DR will follow the International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy and Diabetic Macular Oedema Disease Severity Scales. Ultra-wide field fundus photography will help investigators grade diabetic retinopathy.

    Time frame: 12 month postoperatively

  2. Cost-effectiveness analysis

    The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is used as the evaluation index in cost-effectiveness analysis. The average cost of the two groups of treatments is taken as willingness to pay (WTP). If ICER is less than WTP, the treatment scheme is cost-effective.

    Time frame: 12 month postoperatively

  3. Vision-related quality of life questionnaire

    The National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (NEI-VFQ-25) will be used to evaluate the vision-related quality of life. Scores range from 0 to 100, and lower scores indicate a poorer quality of life.

    Time frame: 6, 12 month postoperatively

  4. Biomarkers of optical coherence tomography (OCT)

    Scanning was centred on the macular fovea with a scan length of 6 mm. The resolution was 5 μm, the scan depth was 4 mm, and the scan mode was horizontal linear scanning of 512×128.

    Time frame: 1, 3, 6, 12 month postoperatively

  5. Biomarkers of OCT angiography (OCTA)

    The scanning area, centred on the fovea, was captured in 3×3 mm sections with a resolution of 304×304 pixels.

    Time frame: 1, 3, 6, 12 month postoperatively

  6. Occurrence rates of re-treatment

    Pro re nata conbercept treatment will be performed if the following criteria are met: (1) existence of recent or persisting cystoid retinal lesions; (2) a decrease of no less than 5 ETDRS letters in BCVA; and (3) an increase of 50 μm or more in CST compared with the best value previously achieved.

    Time frame: 12 months postoperatively

  7. Occurrence rates of adverse events

    Ocular hypertension, progression of cataract, corneal abrasion, retinal injury, hyphaemia, uveitis or inflammatory reaction, and endophthalmitis.

    Time frame: 12 months postoperatively

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 6, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05728476
Lead sponsor
Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital
Responsible party
Bojie Hu (Professor, Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 15, 2023
Start date
Mar 5, 2024
Primary completion
Sep 5, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 5, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Mar 6, 2024

Study contacts

Bojie Hu
Contact
bhu07@tum.edu.cn
13612130943

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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