Abstract
Purpose :
Subretinal fibrosis is one of the main cause for vision loss in the treatment of macular neovascularization (MNV). The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that cause subretinal fibrosis after anti-VEGF therapy for MNV associated with drusen and/or pachychoroid phenotype.
Methods :
A total of 107 eyes of 107 patients (63 males and 44 females, mean age 72.4 ± 8.8 years) who had been treated with anti-VEGF therapy for MNV and were followed for at least 4 years after starting therapy were included. We used univariate and multivariate analyses to estimate factors associated with subretinal fibrosis at 4 years.
Results :
Subretinal fibrosis occurred in 18 eyes (16.8%) at 4 years after starting anti-VEGF therapy. Subretinal fibrosis occurred more frequently in type 2 MNV (18.0% vs 44.4%), eyes with subretinal hemorrhage (11.1% vs 88.9%) and poor preoperative visual acuity (median logarithm of minimum angle of resolution: logMAR 0.40 vs 1.02) (p=0.026, 0.001 and <0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed drusen MNV, presence of SRH, and poor preoperative visual acuity were the contributing factors for development of subretinal fibrosis (p=0.041, 0.012 and 0.016).
Conclusions :
Subretinal fibrosis was associated with drusen, subretinal hemorrhage, and poor visual acuity, which was consistent with previous reports. Pachychoroid phenotype was not a promoting or protecting factor for fibrosis.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.