Abstract
Purpose :
The literature is limited on the visual acuity outcomes of patients with a poor presenting visual acuity (VA) who undergo bevacizumab treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), especially since the landmark bevacizumab trials excluded patients with VA < 20/320. We performed a retrospective, observational cohort study to investigate the annual visual acuity changes of patients who had a presenting VA worse than 20/320 and underwent bevacizumab therapy for nAMD.
Methods :
Eyes with a presenting VA < 20/320 treated for nAMD with bevacizumab from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2020 were included. Eyes with previous intravitreal anti-VEGF injections, previous non-cataract intraocular surgery, or < 12 months of treatment were excluded. Data on visual acuities, number of injections, and treatment regimen were collected annually. The primary outcome was the mean VA change from presentation at one year in Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters. Secondary outcomes included the mean VA change at years 2-6 and the percentage of eyes that gained attained vision > 20/320 at one year.
Results :
120 eyes completed at least one year of treatment and qualified for the study. The mean VA change at 1 year was +20.5 letters (SD=26.0). 53 eyes (44.2%) achieved vision > 20/320 at one year. The mean VA change at 2 and 3 years was +16.0 letters (SD=23.8, N=89) and +17.8 letters (SD=27.5, N=59), respectively. The annual total number of injections and the VA change in subsequent years are summarized in Table 1.
Conclusions :
Eyes with poor presenting vision treated for nAMD with bevacizumab can gain visual acuity in the first year of treatment and maintain some degree of improved vision in subsequent years.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.