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Visual acuity remains unchanged after switch to aflibercept treatment
A switch to aflibercept treatment in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration resulted in a significant decrease in the number of injections, central retinal thickness and retinal pigment epithelial detachment volume, but visual acuity remained unchanged, according to a study.
The retrospective study included 73 eyes of 65 patients with neovascular AMD who switched to Eylea (aflibercept, Regeneron) because of persistent macular fluid after treatment with intravitreal Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) or Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech). Patients received bevacizumab or ranibizumab for at least 1 year, with re-treatment at least every 6 weeks, before the switch. After the switch, minimum follow-up was 6 months.
The mean time before patients switched to aflibercept treatment was 45 months, and the mean number of bevacizumab or ranibizumab injections was 31. At 6 months after the treatment switch, the mean number of injections decreased by 0.6 compared with the previous 6 months (P < .001), central retinal thickness decreased by 19 µm (P < .001) and retinal pigment epithelial detachment cube-root volume decreased by 0.07 mm (P = .001).
However, the change in visual acuity was not statistically significant 6 months after the treatment switch, which is consistent with previous phase 3 trials that compared aflibercept and ranibizumab.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.