Short-Term Changes in Choroidal Thickness After Aflibercept Therapy for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Abstract

To investigate changes in choroidal thickness after aflibercept therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Retrospective, consecutive, interventional case series. This study included 102 eyes of 102 patients with treatment-naïve neovascular AMD. All 102 eyes underwent 3 consecutive monthly 2.0mg intravitreal aflibercept injections at baseline, 1month, and 2months. Choroidal thickness during 3months were evaluated using either swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) or enhanced-depth imaging OCT. Of the 102 eyes, 46 eyes (45.1%) were diagnosed as typical neovascular AMD and 56 eyes (54.9%) as polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. After intravitreal aflibercept injections, the mean subfoveal choroidal thickness decreased from 252.0 ± 99.7μm at baseline to 217.9 ± 95.6μm at 3months (P < .0001; percentage change from baseline, 86.5%). Mean choroidal thickness measured at 3mm from the foveal center in the superior, inferior, temporal, and nasal directions also decreased significantly from 258.7 ± 85.9μm to 236.4 ± 84.6μm, 229.9 ± 93.0μm to 208.6 ± 86.5μm, 237.4 ± 86.5μm to 214.6 ± 79.5μm, and 183.7 ± 97.0μm to 162.3 ± 90.6μm, respectively (P < .0001 for all directions). Both subtypes of neovascular AMD demonstrated a similar trend toward decreasing choroidal thickness during the follow-up period. Choroidal thickness significantly decreased not only at the foveal center but also in the entire macula after 3monthly intravitreal aflibercept injections for neovascular AMD.