Long-term outcomes of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapies in patients affected by neovascular age-related macular degeneration: a real-life study.

PURPOSE: To describe real-life data from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and to compare our results with previous studies and clinical trials. METHODS: This retrospective monocentric cohort study analyzed 865 eyes of 780 wet-AMD patients treated with an anti-VEGF treat-and-extend regimen over a long-term follow-up period. Aflibercept and Ranibizumab were considered first-line agents whereas Bevacizumab was reserved for use on a compassionate basis in patients not meeting treatment criteria. All patients underwent a best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) assessment at each follow-up visit. RESULTS: One-year follow-up figures were available for 82.5% of patients, whilst follow-up data was recorded for 55.6%, 37.6%, 25.1%, and 15.0% of the cohort at years 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively. Patients treated with Bevacizumab received fewer yearly injections than those treated with Ranibizumab. However, no significant difference in the number of injections per year was detected in other comparisons between groups. Whilst our data showed no significant difference in mean BCVA between the three groups, there was a gradual deterioration of visual function over time for the patient cohort as a whole. CONCLUSION: No significant differences between the 3 anti-VEGF molecules were recorded in wet-AMD patients in real-life conditions. Despite the long-term therapy, we found a slight reduction in visual function especially after the third year of treatment.

Three-year real-world outcomes of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapies in patients affected by myopic choroidal neovascularization.

PURPOSE: To describe real world data in patients affected by myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and to compare our results with previous studies and clinical trials. METHODS: This retrospective monocentric cohort study analyzed 96 eyes of 96 myopic-CNV patients treated with an anti-VEGF pro-re-nata regimen over a 3-year-long follow up period. Aflibercept and Ranibizumab were considered as first-line agents whereas Bevacizumab was reserved on a compassionate basis in patients outside the criteria for treatment. All patients underwent a best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) recording at each follow up visit. RESULTS: Our data showed that all three molecules produced significant improvements in BCVA at year 1, with no significant differences between the three drugs. Moreover, during the second year of treatment, Ranibizumab and Bevacizumab showed a significant improvement in the visual function. However, at year 3 of treatment, the data available indicated the BCVA improvement was not significant with Ranibizumab and Bevacizumab. In addition, no significant difference in the average number of injections between the three groups was detected over the follow up period. No serious adverse events were recorded, but five minor adverse events documented. CONCLUSION: Our study correlates with previous studies showing significant BCVA gains with the use of these molecules. Similarly, all three molecules seem to provide a similar duration of effects as previous studies have shown, with a low ocular adverse event rate.