Abstract
Purpose:
To investigate the factors associated with visual outcomes after intravitreal aflibercept injection (IAI) for typical neovascular AMD.
Methods:
We retrospectively studied the visual changes in 46 eyes of 42 patients with typical neovascular AMD, who had been initially treated with three monthly IAI followed by as-needed IAI.
Results:
Mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved during the 6-month follow-up period in 36 eyes of 33 patients without reticular pseudodrusen (RPD) in both eyes, whereas it deteriorated in 10 eyes of 9 patients with RPD in either eye. Multiple regression analysis revealed that visual gain at 6 months after the first IAI positively correlated with worse baseline BCVA, thicker baseline subfoveal choroidal thickness, and shorter length of the greatest linear dimension of the baseline lesion (p<0.001, p=0.028, and p=0.045, respectively) but not with absence of RPD (p=0.28). Subfoveal choroidal thickness was significantly thinner in eyes with RPD compared with that in eyes without RPD (p=0.008).
Conclusions:
Visual gain after IAI in eyes with typical neovascular AMD appears to be limited in patients with RPD, which may reflect the poor visual outcome after IAI in eyes with a thinner subfoveal choroid that is seen predominately in patients with RPD.