PURPOSE: Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy is a first-line treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) but frequent visits and injections can be a burden for patients. The purpose of this study is to estimate the remission rate and tolerability of anti-VEGF therapy for AMD in a clinical setting. METHODS: We investigated 90 eyes of 87 patients with AMD who underwent anti-VEGF therapy and were followed for more than 6 months. Ranibizumab and pegaptanib were used as anti-VEGF agents. Initial therapy was any of the following: a single injection, 3 consecutive monthly injections, or combination therapy with verteporfin. Additional injections were given as-needed during follow-up. An injection-free period greater than 6 months at the final observation was regarded as cessation; the reason for cessation was studied for each patient. Clinical characteristics were compared between patents with and without cessation. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 12.8 months. Mean logMAR before and 6 months after the treatment was 0.89 and 0.83, respectively. Cessation was noted in 32 eyes of 31 patients (35.6%). Remission was achieved in 13 (40.6%) of these eyes. The other cases either did not wish to undergo further treatment or dropped out. Poor baseline visual acuity (VA) was associated with cessation. CONCLUSIONS: With current anti-VEGF therapy, remission was achieved in a limited number of AMD cases. The high frequency of voluntary cessation warrants consideration of an alternative treatment and/or supportive care for those with poor baseline VA.
PURPOSE:Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy is a first-line treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) but frequent visits and injections can be a burden for patients. The purpose of this study is to estimate the remission rate and tolerability of anti-VEGF therapy for AMD in a clinical setting. METHODS: We investigated 90 eyes of 87 patients with AMD who underwent anti-VEGF therapy and were followed for more than 6 months. Ranibizumab and pegaptanib were used as anti-VEGF agents. Initial therapy was any of the following: a single injection, 3 consecutive monthly injections, or combination therapy with verteporfin. Additional injections were given as-needed during follow-up. An injection-free period greater than 6 months at the final observation was regarded as cessation; the reason for cessation was studied for each patient. Clinical characteristics were compared between patents with and without cessation. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 12.8 months. Mean logMAR before and 6 months after the treatment was 0.89 and 0.83, respectively. Cessation was noted in 32 eyes of 31 patients (35.6%). Remission was achieved in 13 (40.6%) of these eyes. The other cases either did not wish to undergo further treatment or dropped out. Poor baseline visual acuity (VA) was associated with cessation. CONCLUSIONS: With current anti-VEGF therapy, remission was achieved in a limited number of AMD cases. The high frequency of voluntary cessation warrants consideration of an alternative treatment and/or supportive care for those with poor baseline VA.
Authors: Corleone S Delaveris; Shannon H Chiu; Nicholas M Riley; Carolyn R Bertozzi Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2021-01-19 Impact factor: 12.779
Authors: P Fernández-Robredo; A Sancho; S Johnen; S Recalde; N Gama; G Thumann; J Groll; A García-Layana Journal: J Ophthalmol Date: 2014-01-14 Impact factor: 1.909
Authors: Joy G Ghosh; Andrew A Nguyen; Chad E Bigelow; Stephen Poor; Yubin Qiu; Nalini Rangaswamy; Richard Ornberg; Brittany Jackson; Howard Mak; Tucker Ezell; Vania Kenanova; Elisa de la Cruz; Ana Carrion; Bijan Etemad-Gilbertson; Roxana Garcia Caro; Kan Zhu; Vinney George; Jirong Bai; Radhika Sharma-Nahar; Siyuan Shen; Yiqin Wang; Kulandayan K Subramanian; Elizabeth Fassbender; Michael Maker; Shawn Hanks; Joanna Vrouvlianis; Barrett Leehy; Debby Long; Melissa Prentiss; Viral Kansara; Bruce Jaffee; Thaddeus P Dryja; Michael Roguska Journal: Nat Commun Date: 2017-03-23 Impact factor: 14.919