Abstract
Previous studies based on clinical trial data have demonstrated that greater fluctuations in retinal thickness during the course of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is associated with poorer visual acuity outcomes. However, it was unclear whether similar findings would be observed in real-world clinical settings. This study aimed to evaluate the association between retinal thickness variability and visual outcomes in eyes receiving anti-VEGF therapy for nAMD using pro re nata treatment regimen. A total of 64 eyes which received intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy (bevacizumab, ranibizumab or aflibercept) for the treatment of nAMD were evaluated. Variability in spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) central subfield thickness (CST) was calculated from the standard deviation (SD) values of all follow-up visits after three loading doses from month 3 to month 24. Eyes were divided into quartiles based on the OCT CST variability values and the mean best-corrected visual acuity values at 2 years were compared. At baseline, the mean ± SD logMAR visual acuity and CST were 0.59 ± 0.39 and 364 ± 113 µm, respectively. A significant correlation was found between CST variability and visual acuity at 2 years (Spearman’s ρ = 0.54, p < 0.0001), indicating that eyes with lower CST variability had better visual acuity at 2 years. Eyes with the least CST variability were associated with the highest mean visual acuity improvement at 2 years (quartile 1: +9.7 letters, quartile 2: +1.1 letters, quartile 3: −2.5 letters, quartile 4: −9.5 letters; p = 0.018). No significant difference in the number of anti-VEGF injections was found between the four CST variability quartile groups (p = 0.21). These findings showed that eyes undergoing anti-VEGF therapy for nAMD with more stable OCT CST variability during the follow-up period were associated with better visual outcomes. Clinicians should consider adopting treatment strategies to reduce CST variability during the treatment course for nAMD.
Highlights
IntroductionA recent systematic review has demonstrated that after adjusting for the number of intravitreal anti-VEGF injections, neither the treatment dosing regimen adopted, nor the anti-VEGF agent used, were significant predictors for visual acuity changes [13]
These findings showed that eyes undergoing anti-VEGF therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) with more stable optical coherence tomography (OCT) central subfield thickness (CST) variability during the follow-up period were associated with better visual outcomes
It is well known that the visual acuity of a substantial proportion of patients with nAMD could still deteriorate to before-treatment levels despite receiving regular anti-VEGF therapy, especially in the long term [21]
Summary
A recent systematic review has demonstrated that after adjusting for the number of intravitreal anti-VEGF injections, neither the treatment dosing regimen adopted, nor the anti-VEGF agent used, were significant predictors for visual acuity changes [13]. Other factors such as age, anatomical status of the retina, including the presence or absence of subretinal and/or intraretinal fluids, optical coherence tomography (OCT) central macular thickness, and macular morphology have been implicated as important prognostic factors in determining visual outcomes [14,15,16]
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