Association of Anti-VEGF Injections with Progression of Geographic Atrophy

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness in developed countries in people over the age of 60 years. One of the forms of advanced AMD is wet AMD. Wet AMD is a result of leakage and bleeding from abnormal neovascularization. The principal treatment for wet AMD is intravitreal anti-VEGF injections. A second form of advanced AMD is geographic atrophy (GA). GA refers to large areas of retinal pigment epithelium loss. In the literature, there is some concern that anti-VEGF injections administered to treat wet AMD may be associated with progression of GA. This review discusses evidence suggesting the association of anti-VEGF injections with progression of GA.