Clinical Ophthalmology (Jul 2019)
Twelve-week dosing with Aflibercept in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration
Abstract
Justus G Garweg1,21Swiss Eye Institute, Rotkreuz, and Berner Augenklinik Am Lindenhofspital, Bern, Switzerland; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandPurpose: To review published evidence for a treatment interval extension to ≥12-weeks in neovascular macular degeneration treated with intravitreal Aflibercept.Methods: A systematic search was performed in the NCBI/PubMed database to identify pro- and retrospective studies retrieved by the key terms or and or AND AND and included all papers that used a treat-and-extend (T&E) protocol including a loading phase of 3 intravitreal anti-VEGF injections and a minimal follow-up of 2 years. Disease stability was defined as the absence of any intraocular and absence or stability of subretinal fluid and pigment-epithelial detachment.Results: Four studies were identified that reported information pertaining to disease stability or treatment extension beyond 12 weeks under intravitreal Aflibercept therapy including 1,102 eyes in total. Following a T&E protocol, a mean of 62.9% achieved disease stability and a 6.9 letter gain based on 11.9 injections over 24 months of Aflibercept treatment. As much as 43.0% of all eyes or 64.1% of the eyes with stable disease were maintained on ≥12-weekly injection intervals.Conclusions: A consequent treatment with a null tolerance for intraretinal fluid is prerequisite to induce stability and maintain visual gain after the loading phase. Using Aflibercept in a T&E protocol, disease stability and interval extension to ≥12 weeks were reported in 43% of the eyes by end of the second year with less injections, but similar results as under fix dosing. A lower treatment burden strongly argues for an individualized proactive treatment regimen.Keywords: neovascular age-related macular degeneration, AMD, Aflibercept, intravitreal anti-VEGF injections, treat-and-extend, proactive treatment, long-term outcome, review
