INTRAVITREAL ANTI–VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION AND POOR VISUAL ACUITY

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the significance of intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor treatment in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration and poor visual acuity. Methods: Retrospective study of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration with baseline best-corrected visual acuity of ≤20/200. Patients were divided into regular treatment and scarce treatment groups according to whether they underwent consecutive intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor treatments at intervals of ≤4 months or not. Results: A total of 131 eyes were included: 87 and 44 eyes in the regular treatment and scarce treatment groups, respectively. The regular treatment group showed significantly improved preservation of lesion size at both Years 1 and 2, with significantly fewer incidences of new subretinal hemorrhage. Improvements in visual acuity, reduction in central subfield macular thickness, and maximal height of choroidal neovascularization were significantly favorable in the regular treatment group at Year 1, and central subfield macular thickness was significantly decreased at Year 2. Survival analysis revealed that the regular treatment group had significantly greater preservation of visual acuity and lesion size than that in the scarce treatment group. Conclusion: Maintaining intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor treatment for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration and poor vision showed significant advantages in visual acuity and lesion size stability and reduced the incidence of new subretinal hemorrhage, which suggests preservation of paracentral vision.