Twenty‐four‐month real‐life treatment outcomes of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy versus type 1 macular neovascularization in Caucasians

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundTo compare 24‐month real‐world outcomes of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) inhibitors for Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy (PCV) and type 1 Macular Neovascularization (MNV) in a Caucasian population.MethodsRetrospective analysis from a prospectively designed observational database. Data from Italian centres participating in the Fight Retinal Blindness! (FRB!) project were collected. Treatment‐naïve PCV or type 1 MNV commencing treatment after January 2009 were included. The primary outcome was 24‐month visual acuity (VA) change; other outcomes included baseline characteristics, number of anti‐VEGF injections, time to lesion inactivation and proportion of active visits.ResultsA total of 322 eyes (114 PCVs) from 291 patients were included. Median [Q1, Q3] VA at baseline was comparable (70 [55, 75.8] vs. 70 [58.8, 75] letters, p = 0.95). Adjusted VA change at 2 years was higher in PCV (mean [95% CI], +1.2 [−1.6, 4.1] vs. −3.6 [−6, −1.2] letters, p = 0.005). PCV received fewer anti‐VEGF injections over the first 24 months of treatment than type 1 MNV (median [Q1, Q3], 8 [5, 10] vs. 9 [7, 12.2] injections, p = 0.001), inactivated earlier (median [Q1, Q3], 235 [184, 308] vs. 252 [169, 343] days, p = 0.04) and was less frequently graded ‘active’ (62% vs. 68% of visits, p = 0.001).ConclusionsPCV had slightly better VA outcomes over 24 months of treatment than type 1 MNV after receiving less anti‐VEGF injections. These results suggest a possible overlap of the two clinical entities with similar visual prognosis in Caucasians.