Abstract
Purpose::
To determine whether there is an association between response to treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and complement factor H genotype.
Methods::
Seventy-five eyes of 73 patients with exudative AMD treated with bevacizumab alone were enrolled in the study. AMD phenotypes were characterized by clinical examination, fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography. Eyes received one to four intravitreal bevacizumab injections as part of routine ophthalmologic care, and patients were followed for a minimum of six months. Each patient was genotyped for the T-to-C polymorphism in exon-9 of the CFH gene (Y402H) by restriction length polymorphism analysis.
Results::
The prevalence of the C allele was 59% in the patient population. Lesion size and angiographic type were similar among the three CFH genotypes. Mean visual acuity for all treated eyes improved from 20/185 to 20/150. Mean visual acuity improved from 20/215 to 20/100 for patients with the TT genotype and from 20/185 to 20/140 for patients with the TC genotype. Mean visual acuity fell from 20/180 to 20/190 for patients with the CC genotype.
Conclusions::
In our patient cohort, response to treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab differed according to the CFH genotype, suggesting that determining patients' CFH genotype may be helpful in tailoring treatment for exudative AMD with intravitreal bevacizumab.
Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • genetics • choroid: neovascularization