Long-Term Outcomes of Aflibercept Treatment for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration in a Clinical Setting.

Purpose: To report 2-year treatment outcomes with intravitreal aflibercept for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in routine clinical practice.
Design: Retrospective, nonrandomized, interventional case series.
Methods: Retrospective analysis of electronic medical record (EMR) notes (OpenEyes) and paper case notes and review of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) imaging of patients with consecutively treated eyes with previously untreated nAMD. Patients were commenced on aflibercept injections in 1 or both eyes from October 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013. Data including age, sex, visual acuity (VA) measured on Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study charts, injection episodes, and complications were recorded. Additionally, SDOCT data, including presence or absence of macular fluid and automated central subfield macular thickness (CSMT) at year 1 and 2, were recorded.
Results: Of the 109 eyes of 102 patients treated, data from 94 eyes of 88 patients were available at 2-year follow-up (86% of patients). In the analysis of 2-year outcomes, there were 58 women (65.9%); the mean (± standard deviation) age was 77.5 ± 8 years. Over the 2 years, these eyes received a median of 12 (mean, 11.4 ± 4) injections at a median of 100 (mean, 99.3 ± 5.3) weeks of follow-up. The mean VA changed from 55.9 ± 15 letters at baseline to 61.3 ± 16.9 letters (VA gain 5.4 letters) at 1 year and to 61 ± 17.1 letters (VA gain 5.1 ± 14.9 letters) at 2 years. The reduction in CSMT was 79 μm with absence of macular fluid in 72.7% of the 88 eyes with SDOCT data available at 2-year follow-up.
Conclusions: The VA and SDOCT results compare favorably with outcomes seen in randomized controlled trials. The results suggest that good long-term outcomes can be achieved using aflibercept for nAMD in clinical settings.
(Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)