Abstract
Purpose :
To present data on long-term (10 years) follow-up of visual acuity results in participants with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) enrolled in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2), a clinical trial of oral supplementation for the treatment of AMD
Methods :
Participants (n=4203) 50 to 85 years with bilateral large drusen or unilateral late AMD were enrolled in the AREDS2 study from 82 retinal specialty clinics in the US between 2006–2008 and followed until the conclusion of the clinical trial in 2012. After the end of the trial, an additional 5-year of follow-up was conducted in a subset (2923 participants) via telephone every 6 months until 2018. A subset of the AREDS2 participants (709 participants[1418 eyes]) was also evaluated in a final in-clinic study visit (at 10 years) to collect data on best-corrected visual acuity (VA), AMD status evaluated with color fundus photographs(CFP) and optical coherence tomography that were graded centrally by the reading center (AMD progression assessed with AREDS severity scale for AMD), and treatment. Late AMD was defined as the presence of neovascularization or geographic atrophy on CFP.
Results :
The mean (SD) age of the 709 participants at baseline was 70 (7.5) years. The mean (SD) VA of 76.6 (16.8) letters (Snellen equivalent of 20/30) at baseline remained stable in the initial five years but dropped to a mean of 63.1 (24.8) letters (Snellen 20/60) at the 10-year visit (Table 1, Figure 1A). The proportion of eyes with VA≥20/40 dropped from 85% at baseline to 57% over 10 years while those with VA<20/200 increased from 4% to 15% (Table 1, Figure 1B). Late AMD increased from 18% at baseline to 74% at 10 years. Another analysis showed that at year 10, 650 of 1414 eyes (46%) had ≥10 letters loss compared with baseline. Of all the participants with vision loss, 293/650 (45%) had developed late AMD by year 5 that increased to 471(72.7%) over 10 years.
Conclusions :
Half of the cohort followed had maintained good VA (20/30 on average) over 10 years. The mean VA dropped by year 10 with 72% progressing to late AMD. Only a small proportion of eyes experienced severe vision loss.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.