Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate the visual outcome and the anatomic effect of intravitreal aflibercept 2.0mg of patients who were previously treated with ranibizumab for exudative age-related macular degeneration.
Methods:
72 eyes from seventy patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration, who previously had received ranibizumab and had persistent fluid, were treated with aflibercept with the intention to treat and extend. Outcomes measures included effects in visual acuity and changes of intraretinal fluid (IRF), subretinal fluid (SRF) and pigment epithelial detachment (PED) as obtained by Spectral-Domain optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Results:
The follow-up period was 4 months. Eyes received a mean of 2.9 injections. Mean baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 60.5 ETDRS letters. At final visit, the mean BCVA was 62.8 ETDRS letters, resulting in a statistically significant improvement (p=0.043). At baseline, all eyes had persistent fluid, 43 ( 60%) of them IRF and 44 (61%) SRF. At month 4, 49 (68%) eyes had no IRF, 13 (18%) had less IRF and 10 (14%) had the same or increased IRF. At month 4, 43 (60%) eyes had no SRF, 15 (21%) had less and 14 (19%) had the same or increased SRF.At final visit, 28 (39%) eyes were totally dry. The PED decreased in 46 (64%) of the eyes.
Conclusions:
Aflibercept may be an effective alternative for patients with exudative age-related degeneration who formerly were treated with ranibizumab. Aflibercept injections resulted in a significant improvement in visual acuity and anatomical outcomes.
Keywords: 412 age-related macular degeneration •
453 choroid: neovascularization