Vision Recovery Velocity, Momentum and Acceleration: Advanced Vitreoretinal Analytics as Measure of Treatment Efficacy for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Abstract

David RP Almeida,1 Jessica Ruzicki,2 Kunyong Xu,3 Eric K Chin4 1Vitreoretinal Diseases & Surgery, Erie Retinal Surgery, Erie, PA, USA; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; 3Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Arizona, Arizona, AZ, USA; 4Vitreoretinal Diseases & Surgery, Retina Consultants of Southern California, Redlands, CA, USA; 5Vitreoretinal Diseases & Surgery, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Veterans Affairs Hospital, Loma Linda, CA, USACorrespondence: David RP AlmeidaErie Retinal Surgery, 300 State Street, Suite 201, Erie, PA 16507, USATel [phone]Fax [phone]Email [email protected]: Currently, varying treatment paradigms and different clinical trial constructs preclude cross-trial comparison between different available vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors. This study aimed to review the evidence and compare the efficacy of anti-VEGF therapies for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), and to develop metrics as a means of facilitating standardized comparison between different anti-VEGF agents within the Advanced VitreoRetinal Analytics (AVRA) model.Methods: The study analyzed key outcomes in clinical trials of bevacizumab, ranibizumab, aflibercept, and brolucizumab, including best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), number of injections, and duration of follow-up (minimum follow-up of 48 weeks).Results: The AVRA model includes 1) vision recovery velocity (VRV; letters per unit time), which provides a metric of letters gained or lost over time (or the speed of improvement); 2) injection momentum (InjMom; number of injections multiplied by letters per unit time; units of injections•(letters/time)), which is defined as the number of injections multiplied by VRV and describes the quantity of treatment needed to achieve a vision outcome; and 3) vision recovery acceleration (VRA; letters per unit time squared; units of letters/time2), which denotes final VRV minus initial VRV, per unit time, and describes the rate of change in letters gained or lost over time.Conclusion: AVRA stipulates that the ideal VEGF inhibitor to treat nAMD would have a higher positive VRV (more letters gained per unit time), low InjMom (lower treatment burden requiring fewer interventions for a given visual acuity outcome), and VRA approximating zero (indicating stable vision over time). AVRA allows comparisons across different trials to determine the optimal anti-VEGF agent for the treatment of nAMD.Keywords: vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors, neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Keywords

• vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors
• neovascular age-related macular degeneration