Efficacy and safety of treat-and-extend intravitreal Brolucizumab in naive and switched patients with macular neovascularization: one-year follow-up study.

Abstract

Abstract Purpose to analyse, at one year, the efficacy and safety of treat-and-extend (T&E) intravitreal (IV) Brolucizumab in patients affected by macular neovascularization (MNV). Both naïve and previously treated (i.e. switched) patients were included. Methods anatomical (i.e. central subfoveal thickness, CST; presence of fluid), functional (i.e. best corrected visual acuity, BCVA) and treatment-related (i.e. number of IV injections within the study period; number of patients reaching 12-weeks IV injections interval) data from 41 eyes (41 subjects; 20 naïve, 21 switched) were analysed. Patients were treated with 3 monthly IV injections followed by a T&E regimen basing on a disease activity assessment performed at each scheduled IV treatment. Results significant CST reduction and BCVA improvement were observed in the naïve group while in the switched cohort both parameters were almost stable. In the naïve and switched groups, 55% and 33.5% of patients reached a 12-weeks IV injections interval at one year, with a mean of 6.55 ± 1 and 7.43 ± 0.68 IV treatments, respectively. One case of mild anterior uveitis, without sequelae, was recorded. Conclusion in patients with MNV, IV Brolucizumab injections following a T&E regimen demonstrated a good efficacy and safety, with greater anatomical and functional results in naïve patients.