scholarly journals Anti-VEGF Therapy and the Retina: An Update

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikas Tah ◽  
Harry O. Orlans ◽  
Jonathan Hyer ◽  
Edward Casswell ◽  
Nizar Din ◽  
...  

Ocular angiogenesis and macular oedema are major causes of sight loss across the world. Aberrant neovascularisation, which may arise secondary to numerous disease processes, can result in reduced vision as a result of oedema, haemorrhage, and scarring. The development of antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents has revolutionised the treatment of retinal vasogenic conditions. These drugs are now commonly employed for the treatment of a plethora of ocular pathologies including choroidal neovascularisation, diabetic macular oedema, and retinal vein occlusion to name a few. In this paper, we will explore the current use of anti-VEGF in a variety of retinal diseases and the impact that these medications have had on visual outcome for patients.

2020 ◽  
pp. bjophthalmol-2020-315836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Gale ◽  
Maria Pikoula ◽  
Aaron Y Lee ◽  
Spiros Denaxas ◽  
Catherine Egan ◽  
...  

Background/aimsClinical trials suggest anti-vascular endothelial growth factor is more effective than intravitreal dexamethasone as treatment for macular oedema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion. This study asks if ‘real world’ data from a larger and more diverse population, followed for a longer period, also support this conclusion.MethodsData collected to support routine care at 27 NHS (National Health Service) Trusts between February 2002 and September 2017 contained 5661 treatment-naive patients with a single mode of treatment for macular oedema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion and no history of cataract surgery either during or recently preceding the treatment. Number of treatment visits and change in visual acuity from baseline was plotted for three treatment groups (anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF), intravitreal dexamethasone, macular laser) for up to 3 years.ResultsMean baseline visual acuity was 57.1/53.1/62.3 letters in the anti-VEGF/dexamethasone/macular laser groups, respectively. This changed to 66.72 (+9.6)/57.6 (+4.5)/63.2 (+0.9) at 12 months. Adequate numbers allowed analysis at 18 months for all groups (66.6 (+9.5)/56.1 (+3.0)/60.8 (-1.5)) and for anti-VEGF at 36 months (68.0, +10.9) Mean number of treatments were 5.1/1.5/1.2 at 12 months, 5.9/1.7/1.2 at 18 months for all three groups and 10.3 at 36 months for anti-VEGF.ConclusionsVisual acuity improvements were higher and more sustained with anti-VEGF. Higher treatment burden occurred with anti-VEGF but this reduced over 36 months. Patients with better vision at baseline than those in the clinical trials maintained high levels of vision with both anti-VEGF and dexamethasone.


2020 ◽  
pp. bjophthalmol-2020-315933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A Ciulla ◽  
John S Pollack ◽  
David F Williams

Background/AimTo assess visual acuity (VA) outcomes and antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment intensity in diabetic macular oedema (DMO).MethodsRetrospective analysis was performed in treatment-naïve patients with DMO from 2013 to 2018 using a database of aggregated de-identified electronic medical records (Vestrum Health).ResultsAt 1 year, 28 658 patient eyes underwent a mean of 6.4 anti-VEGF injections, gaining a mean of +4.2 letters (95% confidence interval for mean gain: +4.0 to +4.5 letters, p<0.001). When stratified by anti-VEGF medication and by years 2013–2018, no clinically meaningful differences in injection frequency or 1-year VA change resulted. At 1 year, 50% of eyes received ≤6 injections, while <20% received 10–13 injections, representing monthly treatment. Mean letters gained at 1 year generally showed a linear relationship with mean number of anti-VEGF injections, beyond two injections. Eyes with good baseline VA (≥20/40) generally were at risk of VA loss at 1 year; those with moderately severe baseline impairment (20/70 to 20/200) who received ≥10 injections improved by a mean of +10.3 letters.ConclusionIn clinical practice, patients with DMO undergo fewer anti-VEGF injections and exhibit worse visual gains compared with patients in randomised clinical trials. Visual outcomes correlate with treatment intensity at 1 year, with ceiling effects related to baseline VA.


2020 ◽  
Vol 104 (12) ◽  
pp. 1755-1761
Author(s):  
Masahiko Shimura ◽  
Shigehiko Kitano ◽  
Daisuke Muramatsu ◽  
Harumi Fukushima ◽  
Yoshihiro Takamura ◽  
...  

Background/aimsTo investigate the yearly change of real-world outcomes for best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after 2-year clinical intervention for treatment-naïve diabetic macular oedema (DMO).MethodsRetrospective analysis of aggregated, longitudinal medical records obtained from 27 retina specialised institutions in Japan from Survey of Treatment for DMO database. A total of 2049 treatment-naïve centre involving DMO eyes of which the initial intervention started between 2010 and 2015, and had been followed for 2 years, were eligible. As interventions, antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents, local corticosteroids, macular photocoagulation and vitrectomy were defined. In each eye, baseline and final BCVA, the number of each intervention for 2 years was extracted. Each eye was classified by starting year of interventional treatment.ResultsAlthough baseline BCVA did not change by year, 2-year improvement of BCVA had been increased, and reached to +6.5 letters in the latest term. There is little difference among starting year about proportions of eyes which BCVA gained >15 letters, in contrast to those which lost >15 letters were decreased by year. The proportion of eyes receiving anti-VEGF therapy was dramatically increased, while those receiving the other therapies were gradually decreased. The proportion of eyes which maintained socially good vision of BCVA>20/40 has been increased and reached to 59.0% in the latest term.ConclusionFor recent years, treatment patterns for DMO have been gradually but certainly changed; as a result, better visual gain, suppression of worsened eyes and better final BCVA have been obtained. Anti-VEGF therapy has become the first-line therapy and its injection frequency has been increasing.


2020 ◽  
pp. bjophthalmol-2020-317416
Author(s):  
Martin Michl ◽  
Maria Fabianska ◽  
Philipp Seeböck ◽  
Amir Sadeghipour ◽  
Bilal Haj Najeeb ◽  
...  

AimTo objectively assess disease activity and treatment response in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO), neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and centre-involved diabetic macular oedema (DME), using artificial intelligence–based fluid quantification.MethodsPosthoc analysis of 2311 patients (11 151 spectral-domain optical coherence tomography volumes) from five clinical, multicentre trials, who received a flexible antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy over a 12-month period. Fluid volumes were measured with a deep learning algorithm at baseline/months 1, 2, 3 and 12, for three concentric circles with diameters of 1, 3 and 6 mm (fovea, paracentral ring and pericentral ring), as well as four sectors surrounding the fovea (superior, nasal, inferior and temporal).ResultsIn each disease, at every timepoint, most intraretinal fluid (IRF) per square millimetre was present at the fovea, followed by the paracentral ring and pericentral ring (p<0.0001). While this was also the case for subretinal fluid (SRF) in RVO/DME (p<0.0001), patients with nAMD showed more SRF in the paracentral ring than at the fovea up to month 3 (p<0.0001). Between sectors, patients with RVO/DME showed the highest IRF volumes temporally (p<0.001/p<0.0001). In each disease, more SRF was consistently found inferiorly than superiorly (p<0.02). At month 1/12, we measured the following median reductions of initial fluid volumes. For IRF: RVO, 95.9%/97.7%; nAMD, 91.3%/92.8%; DME, 37.3%/69.9%. For SRF: RVO, 94.7%/97.5%; nAMD, 98.4%/99.8%; DME, 86.3%/97.5%.ConclusionFully automated localisation and quantification of IRF/SRF over time shed light on the fluid dynamics in each disease. There is a specific anatomical response of IRF/SRF to anti-VEGF therapy in all diseases studied.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. e000249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Spooner ◽  
Samantha Fraser-Bell ◽  
Thomas Hong ◽  
Andrew A Chang

PurposeReport 5-year outcomes of patients receiving anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for the treatment of macular oedema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO.MethodsRetrospective review of eyes with RVO which initiated anti-VEGF treatment. Data including age, gender, visual acuity (VA) and injection numbers were obtained from medical records. Optical coherence tomography scans were graded for presence or absence of macular oedema and central foveal thickness (CFT). Macular perfusion was assessed on fundus fluorescein angiography by masked graders.Results68 eyes (31 branch RVO, BRVO; 35 central RVO, CRVO and 2 hemi-RVO) with 5 years of follow-up after initiation of anti-VEGF treatment. Mean change in VA at 5 years was + 9.6 ± 21.6 letters among CRVO eyes and + 14.2 ± 15.6 letters among eyes with BRVO (p=0.001). Vision of 20/40 or better was achieved in 65 % of treated eyes. The proportion of eyes with a three-line improvement of vision (15 letters) at 5 years was 22 %. Mean CFT decreased by 257.6 ± 249.8 µm in eyes with CRVO and 145.6 ± 143.3 µm in eyes with BRVO.ConclusionThe results confirm good long-term outcomes can be achieved with anti-VEGF therapy for RVO.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. e042484
Author(s):  
Ha-Lim Jeon ◽  
Hyesung Lee ◽  
Dongwon Yoon ◽  
Yeonkyung Lee ◽  
Jae Hui Kim ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo examine healthcare resource utilisation (HRU) and direct medical costs for patients with diabetic macular oedema (DME) treated with antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) in Korea by comparing with those for (1) patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) without retinopathy and (2) patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treated with anti-VEGF.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingThe Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) database from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2016.ParticipantsWe identified 1398 patients older than 30 years of age who received anti-VEGF treatment for DME in 2015 after excluding patients who had a diagnosis of nAMD in 2015 and any cancer in the preceding year.Main outcome measuresOne-year healthcare resource use and direct medical costs of patients with DME treated with anti-VEGF.ResultsIn total, 1398 patients with DME receiving anti-VEGF, 12 813 patients with DM without retinopathy and 12 222 patients with nAMD receiving anti-VEGF were identified. Hospital admissions and outpatient visits were highest in patients with DME, while the number of licensed anti-VEGF injections in those with DME was about half that of those with nAMD (2.1 vs 3.9 per patient per year). Mean 1-year medical costs were also higher in patients with DME (US$6723) than in those with DM without retinopathy (US$2687) and nAMD (US$4980). In a multivariable analysis with matched cohorts, DME was associated with 66% higher medical costs for comorbid diseases (adjusted OR (aOR), 1.66; 95% CI 1.45 to 1.90) and 50% lower anti-VEGF injections (aOR, 0.50; 95% CI 0.46 to 0.54) compared with nAMD.ConclusionsThe overall HRU and economic burden for DME treated with anti-VEGF were higher than for DM without retinopathy or for nAMD treated with anti-VEGF. Meanwhile, the lower number of licensed anti-VEGF injections compared with nAMD may reflect a potential lack of ophthalmological treatment for DME supported by the NHI in Korea.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e000749
Author(s):  
Rajya L Gurung ◽  
Liesel M FitzGerald ◽  
Bennet J McComish ◽  
Alex W Hewitt ◽  
Nitin Verma ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo compare the visual outcomes of intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in a real-world setting.Methods and analysisRetrospective analysis of data from the Tasmanian Ophthalmic Biobank database. The median change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between baseline and 12 months post initiating intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment were compared between the three diseases. Final BCVA, central macular thickness (CMT), cumulative number of injections and overall predictors of change in BCVA and CMT were also determined.ResultsAt 12 months, change in BCVA was significantly different between nAMD, DMO and RVO cohorts (p=0.032), with lower median change for DMO (2 letters, range −5 to 20) than for RVO (11 letters, range −20 to 35). Likewise, CMT change was significantly different between the three cohorts (p=0.022), with a smaller reduction in CMT in DMO (−54 µm, range −482 to 50) than RVO patients (−137 µm, range −478 to 43; p=0.033). Total number of injections received (p=0.028) and final BCVA score (p=0.024) were also significantly different between the groups. Baseline BCVA was a negative predictor (p=0.042) and baseline CMT a positive predictor (p<0.001) of outcome. After adjusting for baseline BCVA and CMT, diagnosis of nAMD or RVO was a predictor of visual improvement compared with the DMO.ConclusionsAt the end of 12 months, nAMD and RVO cohorts had the greatest improvement in BCVA, however the final BCVA for DMO was significantly better than for nAMD.


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