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¹Gazi Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Göz Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, Ankara, Asist. Dr.
²Gazi Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Göz Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, Ankara, Doç. Dr.
³Gazi Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Göz Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, Ankara, Prof. Dr. Purpose: To evaluate patients with poor response to one-dose intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Materials and Methods: Sixty-seven eyes of 64 patients treated with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) for neovascular AMD were evaluated retrospectively. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) results, and fluorescein angiography findings were reviewed. No improvement in BCVA were defined as poor response. Patients with poor response and good response to one dose IVB treatment were compared. Intragroup assessments were done by Wilcoxon, intergroup assessments were done with Mann-Whitney U tests.
Results: Fifty-one percent of eyes had poor response (n=34). Pretreatment mean BCVA was significantly better in poor response group compared to good response group (p=0.012). Lesion area, lesion type, and OCT characteristics were not different between groups. Although statistically not significant, pigment epithelium detachment was more frequent in poor response group compared to good response group. (44%, 27%, respectively, p=0.151)
Conclusion: Whether there is a criterion to predict the outcome of an anti-VEGF treatment for neovascular AMD is an important question among retina specialists. Although this study evaluates only the response for one dose IVB treatment, it shows the importance of pretreatment BCVA as a criterion. Studies with long term follow-up and larger sample size will be able to give us more precise results to predict the outcome of anti-VEGF treatments for neovascular AMD. Keywords : Exudative, age-related macular degeneration, amd, wet, poor response