Purpose Single center, noninterventional cohort study to assess 10-year visual and anatomical outcomes following initiation of treatment with antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients. Neovascular AMD patients initiated on intravitreal anti-VEGF injections in 2008–2009 and continued to be followed up for at least 10 years were included in this study. Methods The Moorfields OpenEyes database was searched for all patients who were initiated on anti-VEGF therapy for neovascular AMD in 2008–2009 and the visual acuity (VA) in Early Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters and injection records were analyzed for those who have had at least 10-year follow-up. The spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans, color fundus photos, and fundus fluorescein angiography (FA) were graded by two retinal physicians. The outcomes were also compared between those with good and poor VA outcomes based on pre-defined criteria. The primary end point was change in VA at 10 years; secondary outcomes included percentage with VA of 20/40 or better, 20/70 or better, VA gains and losses, anatomic outcomes and number of injections. Results After a mean of 10.04 years after initiation of anti-VEGF therapy, the mean decline in VA from baseline was −2.1 ETDRS letters (SD 19.9, p = 0.65). One hundred eyes (67.1%) achieved a VA threshold of 20/70 or better, 33.5% achieved a VA of 20/40 or better, and 76.5% eyes maintained VA defined as a loss of less than 15 letters. Fourteen percent of study eyes had VA of 20/200 or worse and 23.5% declined by 15 letters or more. 87.5% of eyes were switched from ranibizumab to aflibercept during the course of 10 years and the eyes received a mean of 52.2 (SD 18.1) injections over 10 years. From this cohort, 87 (58.3%) eyes are having on-going treatment. On OCT, 34.9% had persistent fluid at the last visit, 6.7% patients showed new onset atrophy compared to baseline, and 43.7% had increased area of macular atrophy. The mean area of atrophy at the final visit was 4.15 mm 2 . Comparison between the good and worse visual outcome groups showed lower baseline VA, fovea-involving atrophy and final area of atrophy had a statistically significant negative effect on the final visual outcome ( p < 0.05). Conclusions Regular monitoring and anti-VEGF treatment over 10 years reduce the risk of visual loss of 15 letters or more in patients with neovascular AMD. The most common cause of substantial visual decline was macular atrophy.

BackgroundTo describe 10-year trends in visual outcomes, anatomical outcomes and treatment burden of patients receiving antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).MethodsRetrospective cohort study of treatment-naïve, first-affected eyes with nAMD started on ranibizumab before January 1, 2009. The primary outcome was time to best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) falling ≤35 ETDRS letters after initiating anti-VEGF therapy. Secondary outcomes included time to BCVA reaching ≥70 letters, proportion of eyes with BCVA ≥70 and ≤35 letters in 10 years, mean trend of BCVA and central retinal thickness over 10 years, and mean number of injections.ResultsFor our cohort of 103 patients, Kaplan-Meier analyses demonstrated median time to BCVA reaching ≤35 and ≥70 letters were 37.8 (95% CI 22.2 to 65.1) and 8.3 (95% CI 4.8 to 20.9) months after commencing anti-VEGF therapy, respectively. At the final follow-up, BCVA was ≤35 letters and ≥70 letters in 41.1% and 21%, respectively, in first-affected eyes, while this was the case for 5.4% and 48.2%, respectively, in a patient’s better-seeing eye. Mean injection number was 37.0±24.2 per eye and 53.6±30.1 at patient level (63.1% of patients required injections in both eyes).ConclusionsThe chronicity of nAMD disease and its management highlights the importance of long-term visual prognosis. Our analyses suggest that one in five patients will retain good vision (BCVA ≥70 ETDRS letters) in the first-affected eye at 10 years after starting anti-VEGF treatment; yet, one in two patients will have good vision in their better-seeing eye. Moreover, our data suggest that early treatment of nAMD is associated with better visual outcomes.