LONG-TERM REMISSION OF NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION WITH AS-NEEDED ANTI-VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR THERAPY

• Published in: Retina (Philadelphia, Pa.) Vol. 38; no. 3; p. 516
• Main Authors: Muftuoglu, Ilkay Kilic, Alam, Mostafa, You, Qi Sheng, Gaber, Raouf, Ramkumar, Hema L, Mendoza, Nadia, Meshi, Amit, Freeman, William R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.03.2018
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Angiogenesis Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Bevacizumab - therapeutic use; Case-Control Studies; Choroidal Neovascularization - drug therapy; Choroidal Neovascularization - pathology; Female; Humans; Intravitreal Injections; Male; Middle Aged; Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor - therapeutic use; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - therapeutic use; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - antagonists & inhibitors; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - metabolism; Wet Macular Degeneration - drug therapy; Wet Macular Degeneration - pathology
• ISSN: 1539-2864
• DOI: 10.1097/IAE.0000000000001572

To determine the presenting characteristics of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration with long-term remission (LTR), which was defined as the absence of intraretinal/subretinal fluid, or hemorrhage, and absence of leakage on fluorescein angiography for longer than 6 months while on as-needed antivascular endothelial growth factor treatment. The presenting characteristics of patients with LTR were compared with a control group including 32 eyes of 28 age-, gender-, and ethnicity-matched patients who did not achieve LTR. Seventy-four percent of patients in the LTR group had Type 1 choroidal neovascular membrane and 18.5% had retinal angiomatous proliferation. In the control group, 28 eyes had Type 1 choroidal neovascular membrane (87.5%), and none of the patients had retinal angiomatous proliferation; overall, there was a significant difference in lesion types between the 2 groups (P = 0.036). Eyes with LTR at presentation had significantly thinner subfoveal choroidal thickness (147 vs. 178 μm, P = 0.04). There was more intraretinal fluid and less subretinal fluid at the presentation in the remission group (59.3% intraretinal fluid and 11.1% subretinal fluid) compared with the control group (28.1% intraretinal fluid and 34.4% subretinal fluid, P = 0.03). The presence of retinal angiomatous proliferation, thinner choroidal thickness, more intraretinal fluid, and less subretinal fluid at presentation were associated with LTR in patients receiving as-needed treatment for age-related macular degeneration.