Abstract
Purpose :
Although age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in the U.S. adult population, only vitamin supplementation and risk factor modulation are used to prevent progression of this disease from non-neovascular to neovascular. Prior studies have demonstrated a beneficial effect of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) on retinal physiology (Barathi 2014, Tian 2017, Zheng 2015). We performed a retrospective, observational clinical study to evaluate if statins protect against the progression of AMD from the non-neovascular to the neovascular form.
Methods :
A retrospective chart review was performed for patient encounters with the ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes for non-neovascular or neovascular AMD from 2009 to 2019. Patients were included if they initially presented with non-neovascular AMD and if they were followed for at least two clinic visits. The resulting 1,631 patients were then divided into two groups based on whether or not they were on statin therapy—935 (57.3%) were on statin therapy and 696 (42.7%) were not. Patients were then evaluated for progression to neovascular AMD in at least one eye based on ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes for follow up encounters. A chi-square and odds ratio statistical analysis was used to evaluate if a difference exists between the patients on statin therapy and patients not on statin therapy with respect to progression from non-neovascular to neovascular AMD.
Results :
Preliminary data analysis demonstrated that 57.3% of patients with non-neovascular AMD were taking a statin. Of these patients, 12.6% developed neovascular AMD. For patients who were not taking a statin, 11.2% progressed to neovascular AMD. This analysis did not demonstrate a protective effect of statins against progression from non-neovascular to neovascular AMD: Χ2 (2, N=1,631) = 0.75, p=0.39. The odds ratio for this analysis was 1.14 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.84-1.54.
Conclusions :
Approximately half of our patients with non-neovascular AMD were on statin therapy. In this analysis, use of statins did not provide a protective benefit against progression from non-neovascular to neovascular AMD. Further studies regarding the relationship between statins and AMD as well as other treatment options for AMD are important due to the prevalence of this sight-threatening disease.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.