Search

Purpose: We assessed the effect of treatment frequency with intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents on visual acuity (VA) in diabetic macular edema (DME). Methods: This retrospective analysis assessed electronic medical records of eyes newly diagnosed with DME and treated with an anti-VEGF agent at US clinics using the Vestrum Health (Naperville, Illinois) treatment and outcomes database. Eyes were divided into 2 injection frequency subcohorts (≤ 6 vs > 6 injections/y); treatment frequency and change in mean VA (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters) were evaluated. Results: Among 155 240 eyes assessed, 3028 met inclusion criteria for analysis in year 1 and 1292 in year 2. During year 1 of treatment, 57% (n = 1725) received > 6 injections; most continued to receive the same injection frequency during year 2. Mean VA gain from baseline at year 1 was lower in the ≤ 6 than in the > 6 injections/year subcohort (3.7 vs 8.0 letters, respectively; P < .001). Mean VA change from the end of year 1 to year 2 for eyes receiving ≤ 6 injections in year 1 generally remained unchanged, irrespective of year 2 dosing frequency. In eyes that received > 6 injections in year 1, mean VA loss was significantly greater for eyes receiving less-frequent dosing in year 2 than in those maintained on > 6 injections. Conclusions: More than 50% of eyes with DME in routine clinical practice that completed at least 1 year of follow-up received > 6 injections of an anti-VEGF agent during the first year, resulting in better VA gains than eyes treated less frequently.

Amelie Pielen,1,2 W Lloyd Clark,3 David S Boyer,4 Yuichiro Ogura,5 Frank G Holz,6 Jean-Francois Korobelnik,7,8 Brigitte Stemper,9,10 Friedrich Asmus,9 Kay D Rittenhouse,11 Christiane Ahlers,9 Robert Vitti,12 Namrata Saroj,12 Oliver Zeitz,9,13,14 Julia A Haller15 On behalf of the COPERNICUS and GALILEO study group 1Eye Center, University Hospital Freiburg, Eye Hospital, Freiburg, 2Hannover Medical School, University Eye Hospital, Hannover, Germany; 3Palmetto Retina Center, Columbia, SC, USA; 4Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group, Beverly Hills, CA, USA; 5Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan; 6Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; 7Service d’ophtalmologie, CHU de Bordeaux, 8Service d’ophtalmologie, University of Bordeaux, Inserm, Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Team LEHA, UMR 1219, Bordeaux, France; 9Bayer AG, Berlin, 10Department of Neurology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany; 11Bayer US LLC, Whippany, NJ, 12Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY, USA; 13AKH Eye Clinic, Braunschweig, 14Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Augenheilkunde, Hamburg, Germany; 15Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA Objectives: To report on the efficacy and safety of intravitreal aflibercept in patients with macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in an integrated analysis of COPERNICUS and GALILEO. Patients and methods: Patients were randomized to receive intravitreal aflibercept 2mg every 4weeks or sham injections until week 24. From week 24 to week 52, all intravitreal aflibercept-treated patients in both studies and sham-treated patients in COPERNICUS were eligible to receive intravitreal aflibercept based on prespecified criteria. In GALILEO, sham-treated patients continued to receive sham treatment through week 52. Results: At week 24, mean gain in best-corrected visual acuity and mean reduction in central retinal thickness were greater for intravitreal aflibercept-treated patients compared with sham, consistent with individual trial results. At week 52, after 6months of intravitreal aflibercept as-needed treatment in COPERNICUS, patients originally randomized to sham group experienced visual and anatomic improvements but did not improve to the extent of those initially treated with intravitreal aflibercept, while the sham group in GALILEO did not improve over week 24 mean best-corrected visual acuity scores. Ocular serious adverse events occurred in&nbsp

Importance Information on the effect of anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME) with vision loss after macular laser photocoagulation is clinically valuable. Objective To evaluate visual and anatomic outcomes in a subgroup of macular laser photocoagulation treatment control (hereafter laser control) eyes with substantial vision loss receiving treatment with intravitreal aflibercept injection. Design, Setting, and Participants This investigation was a post hoc analysis of a subgroup of laser control eyes in 2 phase 3 trials—VISTA (Study of Intravitreal Aflibercept Injection in Patients With Diabetic Macular Edema) and VIVID (Intravitreal Aflibercept Injection in Vision Impairment Due to DME)—in a multicenter setting. One hundred nine laser control eyes with center-involving DME were included. Interventions Treatment with intravitreal aflibercept injection (2 mg) every 8 weeks after 5 monthly doses with sham injections on nontreatment visits starting at week 24 was initiated on meeting prespecified criteria of at least a 10-letter visual acuity loss at 2 consecutive visits or at least a 15-letter visual acuity loss from the best previous measurement at 1 visit and vision not better than at baseline. Main Outcomes and Measures Visual and anatomic outcomes in a subgroup of laser control eyes receiving treatment with intravitreal aflibercept injection. Results Through week 100, a total of 63 of 154 eyes (40.9%) in VISTA and 46 of 133 eyes (34.6%) in VIVID initially randomized to laser control received treatment with intravitreal aflibercept injection. The median time from week 24 to the first intravitreal aflibercept injection treatment was 34.0 (VISTA) and 83.5 (VIVID) days. In this subgroup, the mean (SD) visual gain from baseline to week 100 was 2.2 (12.5) (VISTA) and 3.8 (10.1) (VIVID) letters. At the time of intravitreal aflibercept injection initiation, these eyes had a mean (SD) loss of 11.0 (10.1) (VISTA) and 10.0 (6.5) (VIVID) letters from baseline, and they subsequently gained a mean (SD) of 17.4 (9.7) (VISTA) and 13.6 (8.6) (VIVID) letters from the initiation of treatment with intravitreal aflibercept injection through week 100. There was a minimal mean change in central subfield thickness from baseline in these eyes at the time of intravitreal aflibercept injection initiation (an increase of 3.9 μm in VISTA and a decrease of 3.0 μm in VIVID), after which further mean (SD) reductions of 285.6 (202.6) μm (VISTA) and 313.4 (181.9) μm (VIVID) occurred through week 100. Conclusions and Relevance Intravitreal aflibercept injection improves visual and anatomic outcomes in eyes experiencing substantial vision loss after macular laser photocoagulation treatment for DME. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifiers:NCT01363440andNCT01331681