PU Conference Series: Euretina 2018

Real-World Results Show Patients With AMD Benefit From Intravitreal Therapy But increased use of this modalitymeans treatment guidelines are needed.

A new study has found that the majority of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) maintained their vision upon commencement of treatment, but visual acuity gains were more modest. The modest gains in acuity are most likely due to sev- eral reasons influencing outcomes of neovascular AMD treatment in real life, such as therapeutic adherence or accessibility of care, according to the research team who presented their findings at EURETINA 2018. AMD is the leading cause of severe visual impair- ment in the developed world and the third leading cause globally. Approximately 11 million individuals are affected with AMD in the United States alone and 170 million worldwide. Neovascular AMD is an advanced stage of the disease and is responsible for the most severe vision loss. In the abstract, the study team noted that the management of neovascular AMD has been trans- formed by the emergence of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy, most powerfully demonstrated by pivotal trials including ANCHOR (Anti-VEGF Antibody for the Treatment of Predominantly Classic Choroidal

Neovascularization in AMD), MARINA (Minimally Classic/Occult Trial of the Anti-VEGF Antibody Ranibizumab in the Treatment of Neovascular AMD), and VIEW. “However,” they stated, “such tri- als may not reflect a real-world case mix rendering the visual outcomes unrepresentative.” New guidelines from EURETINA note that intravit- real injections have caused “a huge revolution” in the treatment of a variety of conditions, including AMD. First introduced in 1911 as a means to repair a detached retina by administering air inside the eye, since 1945 intravitreal injections have been used as a pathway for dispensing different drugs. This study reported on the visual outcomes within the first 24 months following commencement of intravitreal therapy in Moorfields Eye Hospital, a large tertiary single-centre ophthalmic healthcare facility in London. A retrospective cohort study of all patients under- going intravitreal therapy for neovascular AMD from 2007 to 2017 was carried out through an auto- mated batch data export from the Moorfields Eye Hospital Electronic Medical Record system, known as OpenEyes. At first injection, patients were treated by aflibercept or ranibizumab, depending on the guideline recommendations.

© EURETINA 2018

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