BMC Ophthalmology (May 2020)

Impact of intravitreal aflibercept dosing regimens in treatment-naïve patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration: 2-year results of RAINBOW

  • Michel Weber,
  • Marcel Dominguez,
  • Florence Coscas,
  • Céline Faure,
  • Stéphanie Baillif,
  • Laurent Kodjikian,
  • Salomon-Yves Cohen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12886-020-01468-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Background To review treatment outcomes from real-world data of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treated with intravitreal aflibercept (IVT-AFL) injection. Methods RAINBOW ( ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT02279537 ) is an ongoing, observational, 4-year study to monitor the effectiveness and safety of IVT-AFL in patients with nAMD in clinical practice in France. Treatment-naïve patients diagnosed with nAMD who had been prescribed IVT-AFL by their treating physician were eligible. The regimens of interest were regular treatment interval cohort (patients who received three initial monthly IVT-AFL injections followed by regular injections every 2 months) and two irregular treatment interval cohorts (with and without three initial monthly injections). Here we describe results at 24 months in patients according to IVT-AFL treatment regimen. Results The mean change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) with IVT-AFL from baseline to 24 months was + 3.0 letters in the overall population (P < 0.05 vs baseline). The mean change was positive for the regular and irregular treatment interval cohorts with initial doses (+ 4.9 and + 4.0 letters, respectively; P < 0.05 vs baseline) and negative for the irregular treatment interval cohort without initial doses (− 2.5 letters; P = 0.365 vs baseline) at 24 months. The mean overall number of IVT-AFL injections over 12 and 24 months was 6.0 and 8.8, respectively. The most common ocular adverse events were lack of efficacy (6.3%), vitreous floaters (2.7%), and increased lacrimation (1.7%). Conclusions In the real-world RAINBOW study, visual outcomes observed at 24 months were consistent with results from the primary endpoint at 12 months. In this study, treatment-naïve patients who received three initial IVT-AFL doses and regular IVT-AFL treatment over the first 24 months experienced better visual outcomes than patients who received no initial doses and an irregular treatment regimen. Trial registration www.ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02279537 ). Registered 29 October 2014.

Keywords