Clinical Ophthalmology (Aug 2018)

Endophthalmitis rates among patients receiving intravitreal anti-VEGF injections: a USA claims analysis

  • Kiss S,
  • Dugel PU,
  • Khanani AM,
  • Broder MS,
  • Chang E,
  • Sun GH,
  • Turpcu A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 12
pp. 1625 – 1635

Abstract

Read online

Szilárd Kiss,1 Pravin U Dugel,2,3 Arshad M Khanani,4 Michael S Broder,5 Eunice Chang,5 Gordon H Sun,5 Adam Turpcu6 1Department of Ophthalmology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; 2Retinal Consultants of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ, USA; 3USC Roski Eye Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 4Sierra Eye Associates, Reno, NV, USA; 5Partnership for Health Analytic Research, LLC, Beverly Hills, CA, USA; 6Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA Purpose: Intravitreal (IVT) injections of the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents aflibercept, bevacizumab, and ranibizumab are commonly prescribed to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Studies comparing inflammation rates in large populations of patients receiving these agents and the treatment of ocular inflammation post-IVT anti-VEGF injections are scarce. In this study, we compared rates of endophthalmitis claims (sterile and infectious) following IVT anti-VEGF injections to determine the risk factors associated with developing endophthalmitis, and examined the claims for subsequent treatment. Patients and methods: This retrospective cohort study of USA claims data examined the risk of developing endophthalmitis following IVT injection of aflibercept, bevacizumab, or ranibizumab in patients with nAMD between 11/18/2011 and 5/31/2013. The primary study outcome was occurrence of endophthalmitis within 30 days of a claim for an IVT anti-VEGF injection. Endophthalmitis rates were calculated separately for aflibercept, bevacizumab, and ranibizumab, followed by pairwise comparisons of endophthalmitis frequencies among the 3 treatments. Results: This analysis included 818,558 injections from 156,594 patients with nAMD. The rates (% [n/N]) of endophthalmitis following aflibercept, bevacizumab, and ranibizumab IVT injections were 0.100% (136/135,973), 0.056% (268/481,572), and 0.047% (94/201,013), respectively. In a multivariate analysis, aflibercept was associated with a significantly higher risk of endophthalmitis vs ranibizumab (adjusted odds ratio, 2.19; 95% CI: 1.68–2.85; P<0.0001). The risk of endophthalmitis was similar for bevacizumab and ranibizumab. Within 14 days after endophthalmitis, 38.6% of cases received injectable antibiotics, 15.3% received injectable steroids, and 30.3% underwent vitrectomy. Conclusion: The rate of endophthalmitis was very low, but higher following IVT injection with aflibercept compared with both bevacizumab and ranibizumab in patients with nAMD. Keywords: ranibizumab, aflibercept, bevacizumab, regression analysis

Keywords