A teleconsultation network improves the efficacy of anti-VEGF therapy in retinal diseases

Abstract

We investigated the care of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) managed via a physician-to-physician teleconsultation network for ophthalmology. Eleven groups of ophthalmologists took part in the study. The groups were located in 10 cities across Italy. Each group was based on a Retina Centre located at a university or hospital, with one or two expert ophthalmologists (20 expert ophthalmologists in total). In each region containing a Retina Centre, 6-10 general ophthalmologists (94 ophthalmologists in total) referred patients via the network for a period of three months between June 2011 and December 2012. An automatic grading system quantified the risk of disease progression, and a remote booking system allowed the referring ophthalmologist to make appointments directly with the appropriate Retina Centre. There were 360 network patients and 318 control patients (consecutive patients undergoing usual care during the previous three months). The time delay before therapy was significantly shorter in the network patients (mean 5.5 days) compared with the usual care patients (mean 28.7 days; P < 0.0001). There was a significant improvement in visual acuity in the network patients after treatment (first visit = 0.29 logMAR; after treatment = 0.22 logMAR; P < 0.05). In contrast, there was no improvement in the usual care patients (first visit = 0.29 logMAR; after treatment = 0.27 logMAR; P > 0.05). The telemedicine network allows regional ophthalmologists to quantify the risk of disease progression, and to send patients to a Retina Centre quickly and easily, when required.

Current barriers to treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD): findings from the wAMD patient and caregiver survey

“…Teleconsultation networks have been used successfully in Italian practices, particularly in minimizing the delay between retreatments. 20 This survey highlights the lack of professional patient support and treatment delays, and both could be further examined in a larger study on the role of telemedicine or with similar initiatives.…”

The safety and feasibility of the screening for retinopathy of prematurity assisted by telemedicine network during COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China

“…Many previous reports had demonstrated the importance and advantages of telemedicine in ophthalmology since COVID-19 outbreak [10,11]. However, most of the reports evaluated outcomes of telemedicine for adults [8,10,12], instead of children. Furthermore, little is known about the safety and feasibility of ROP screening assisted by telemedicine network for pediatric patients during COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Novel grid combined with peripheral distortion correction for ultra-widefield image grading of age-related macular degeneration

“…While the here-described methodology system is relatively new, we suggest that with further research, UWF imaging in conjunction with image grading methodologies such as described here has potential to assist in teleophthalmology system networks in the future. 18 …”