Abstract
Purpose :
Treatment with ranibizumab has been in use for treatment of wet AMD (age-related macular degeneration) since 2007. Previous studies have reported undertreatment and less favourable visual outcome. In this study we evaluated two cohorts of patients with AMD before intravitreal treatment with ranibizumab and at four-year respectively three-year follow-up. The main focus was laid on visual outcome and quality of life (QoL) status.
Methods :
We compared patients with treatment-naïve wet AMD in two follow-up cohorts 2007-2010 (n=55 patients ) and 2009-2013 (n=26). After a loading dose of three intravitreal ranibizumab injections patients were treated under Pro Re Nata (PRN) regimen. We examined best corrected visual acuity (VA) by using Early Treatment Diabetic Research Study (ETDRS) charts and evaluated the Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) at baseline with 37 ± 7 months (cohort 1) follow-up 45 ± 4 months (cohort 2).
Results :
At baseline the cohorts were homogeneous considering mean age (75 ± 7 vs.75 ± 8 years), mean VA (53 vs. 52 letters) and mean self reported duration (14 ± 11 vs. 13 ± 11 weeks). Mean VA decreased in both cohorts over time; 53 ± 14 to 45 ± 24 letters (p = .011) and 52 ± 15 to 46 ± 22 (p = .175) respectively. The patients received mean 8 ± 5 and 9 ± 7 injections respectively. In spite of deterioration of VA, life quality test demonstrated only a decrease in social functioning 75 ± 27 to 65 ± 30 scores (p = .029) and role limitations 67 ± 29 to 56 ± 32 scores (p = .034) in cohort 1.
Conclusions :
Although treatment with intravitreal injections is the standard care for wet AMD since many years, no improvement was seen in frequency of injections and visual outcome over years in two different clinical cohorts from the same county in Sweden.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.