Ten-year study data reveal progression predictors for AMD

ATLANTA — The Age-Related Eye Disease Study released 10-year follow-up data, showing that smoking, age and AREDS treatment are predictors for 10-year progression, a presenter said here.

Emily Chew

"We have different effects on the rates of progression in neovascular [age-related macular degeneration] and central geographic atrophy, particularly by risk factors, including smoking and the AREDS treatment," Emily Chew, MD, said at the Retina Subspecialty Day preceding the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting. "We hope this data will be important for you to help discuss advanced AMD risks with your patients and reassure those that don't have the risk."

The study of 4,757 patients has 10.6 mean years of follow-up looking at the 10-year rates of AMD and also risk factors for its progression.

Dr. Chew said the baseline AMD score shows increasing risk.

For patients with no large drusen at baseline, or score 0, the rate of AMD at 10 years is 1.1%; advanced AMD in one eye or both eyes with large drusen with pigmentary changes, or score 4, had a rate of 72% at 10 years.

The other factors for progression of neovascular AMD were age, smoking status and AREDS treatment.

"With increasing age, at all severity of AMD, there is an increasing risk of advanced AMD," Dr. Chew said. "No matter what stage, smoking ... is not good. Even those who smoked before and stopped are not quite as good as those who've never smoked, so there's a suggestion that this is a modifiable risk factor."

"With neovascular AMD, there is a decrease in those who have been treated" with AREDS, she added. "However, if you look at geographic atrophy, there appears to be no difference."

In a press release, the National Eye Institute said the data will be available to ophthalmologists through the online database of Genotypes and Phenotypes, or dbGaP.