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Anti-VEGF injections may not be preferred for AMD patients with poor baseline visual acuity

Eur J Ophthalmol. 2011;21(6):777-782.

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For those with age-related macular degeneration and poor baseline visual acuity, consideration of an alternative to anti-VEGF therapy may be warranted, according to a study that showed frequent treatment termination in this patient population.

Clinical records were retrospectively reviewed for 63 eyes of 59 men and 27 eyes of 27 women treated at a hospital in Japan. All patients were observed for more than 6 months, and mean follow-up was 12.8 months. An injection-free period of more than 6 months at final observation signified cessation.

Mean logMAR visual acuity was 0.89 before treatment and 0.83 at 6 months after treatment. Termination of treatment occurred in 32 eyes of 31 patients (35.6%), and of these, 13 eyes (40.6%) achieved remission; the rest either did not desire further treatment or dropped out.

Notably, patients with poor baseline visual acuity terminated therapy more frequently despite improvement. The study authors suggested that these patients may have been less satisfied, potentially due to depressive symptoms associated with poor vision, or did not consider potential visual enhancements to be worth the effort.