Five-year visual acuity outcomes and injection patterns in patients with pro-re-nata treatments for AMD, DME, RVO and myopic CNV

Abstract: Background: Anti vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy is an established treatment for various retinal diseases. Long-term data on injection frequencies and visual acuity (VA), however, are still rare.

Methods: Five-year analysis of real-life VA developments and injection patterns from 2072 patients (2577 eyes; 33 187 injections) with chronically active disease undergoing pro-re-nata treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular oedema (DME), retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and myopic choroidal neovascularisation (CNV).

Results: Maximum mean VA gain in year 1 was+5.2 letters in AMD, +6.2 in DME, +10 in RVO and+7.2 in myopic CNV. Over 5 years, however, VA in patients with AMD declined. By year 5, 34% of patients with AMD had experienced VA loss of >15 letters, 56% had remained stable and 10% had gained >15 letters. Long-term VA developments in DME and RVO were more favourable with 81% of DME and 79% of patients with RVO gaining or maintaining vision at 5 years. In AMD, median injection frequency was six in year 1 and between four and five in consecutive years. In DME and RVO, median injection frequency was six in year 1 but lower compared with AMD in consecutive years. Injection frequency in DME was weakly associated with patient age (rs=0.1; p=0.03).

Conclusions: In AMD, the initial VA gain was not maintained long term despite higher injection numbers compared with DME, RVO and myopic CNV. The presented real-world data provide a peer-group-based estimate of VA developments and injection frequencies for counselling patients undergoing long-term anti-VEGF therapy

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: British journal of ophthalmology. - 101, 3 (2016) , 353-359, ISSN: 1468-2079

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Freiburg
• (who): Universität
• (when): 2024
• Creator: Wecker, Thomas ; Ehlken, Christoph ; Bühler, Anima Désirée ; Lange, Clemens ; Agostini, Hansjürgen ; Böhringer, Daniel ; Stahl, Andreas
• Contributor: Abteilung Allgemeine Augenheilkunde mit Poliklinik

Further information

• DOI: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2016-308668
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-1357910
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:35 AM CEST