Background: To study the visual outcomes of neovascular AMD (nAMD) treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs at national level.Methods: Multicenter national database of nAMD eyes treated with anti-VEGF intravitreal injections (ranibizumab, aflibercept, bevacizumab) in fixed bimonthly (FB) or treat-and-extend (TAE) regimens. Demographics, visual acuity (VA) in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) ETDRS letters at baseline and subsequent visits, number of injections and visits data were collected using a validated web-based tool (Fight Retinal Blindness!). Results: 1273 eyes (1014 patients) were included, 971 treatment naïve (TN) and 302 previously treated (PT). Baseline VA (mean ± SD) was 57.5 (±19.5) and 62.2 (±17) (p > 0.001), and 24 months final VA was 60.4 (±21.2) and 58.8 (±21.1) (p = 0.326), respectively. Mean VA change at 12/24 months was +4.2/+2.9 letters in TN eyes and +0.1/À3.4 letters in PT eyes (p < 0.001/p < 0.001). The percentage of ≥15 letters gainers/losers at 24 months was 24.8%/14.5% in TN, and 10.3%/15.7% in PT eyes. The median number of injections/visits at 12 months was 7/9 in TN and 6/8 in PT (p = 0.002/p < 0.001) and at 24 months was 11/16 in TN and 11/14 in PT (p = 0.329/p < 0.001). Study drugs included ranibizumab (39.5%), aflibercept (41.2%) and bevacizumab (19.3%).
Purpose Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is a group of genetic diseases with an autosomal dominant pattern. It affects skin, hair and eyes, leading in an hypopigmentation of all these organs. In ophthalmology we can observe a low visual acuity, photophobia, nystagmus, foveal hypoplasia and retinal hypopigmentation. The hypopigmentation may also affect the iris with a characteristic iridian translucence. The disease is also associated with chiasm alterations. Methodss We present the case of a 40 year old patient that was referred to our service to confirm the diagnosis of oculocutaneous albinism. The patient presents a severe hypopigmentation of the skin and hair. She also referred a low visual acuity since birth. She didn't presented family antecedents, or personal ophthalmologic history. Results The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.1 in both eyes. The patient presented horizontal nystagmus and iridian translucence. The fundus examination revealed an important retinal atrophy that showed the choroidal circulation.The optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed a foveal hypoplasia, atrophy in the epithelial retinal epithelium. Conclusions In the patients that the diagnosis of oculocutaneous albinism is not clear, the use of an objective complementary test may be determinant before the genetic diagnosis. This case shows the utility of macular OCT to guide the molecular diagnosis.
Purpose Tacrolimus is an immunosuppressant drug which is often used after allogenic transplant to prevent organ rejection. It blocks T‐cell development and inhibits cytokine synthesis. We report the case of a patient who developed bilateral optic neuropathy as a suspected complication of tacrolimus therapy. Methods A 75 year‐old man who underwent orthotopic kidney transplant in 2013 was treated with tacrolimus since that moment without toxic blood levels at any moment. He had a history of moderate hypertension but neither other atherosclerotic risk factors nor ophthalmological disease associated. He came to the Emergency department for the first time in 2015, when he noticed sudden blurred vision in his left. His best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in his left eye was 20/30. Dilated fundus examination revealed hyperemia, haemorrhages and swelling of the disc with distended veins. Visual field analyser showed a superior altitudinal defect in the left eye. Complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation and C‐reactive protein were normal. He underwent oral treatment with prednisone 60 mg in descendent pattern. In the follow‐up the visual field worsened, with abolished visual field, BCVA was hand movement at one meter distance and a relative afferent pupillary defect in his right eye was demonstrated. Optic disc showed evidence of atrophy. The right eye examination was unremarkable. Results Two years later in 2017 the patient came back to the Emergency department complaining of severe painless visual loss in his left eye. Fundoscopy revealed an optic disc edema with splinter haemorrhages which was confirmed with the OCT where we could see a diffuse edema of the fibre layer. Conclusions We should be aware of ophthalmological symptoms in patients who have been receiving therapy with tacrolimus, even in the absence of toxic blood levels of that drug.
Background To assess the cost-effectiveness of the delayed-release device of dexamethasone compared with aflibercept in the treatment of patients with naïve diabetic macular edema (DME) from a societal perspective in the healthcare sector Zaragoza III in Spain. Methods A Markov model with five states defined by visual acuity (VA) in the better-seeing eye (Snellen scale) and an additional death state were constructed. Two cohorts of patients were distributed along the VA states and treated during a year with either dexamethasone or aflibercept. One-year follow-up on each group was performed. Medical costs related to the DME treatment and follow-up, medical costs related to the DME comorbidities, and non-medical-related costs were taken into account. Costs (2020 €), health outcomes (Quality-Adjusted Life Years-QALYs), both discounted at a 3.5% annual rate, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER: €/QALY) were determined for a lifetime horizon in the base case analysis. Results Patients treated with dexamethasone were €77,349 more costly and provided 2.667 additional QALYs (€29,002/QALY) than those treated with aflibercept. The variable efficiency per patient was calculated dividing the improvement in quality of life (on the VFQ-25 scale) by the cost of the treatment. With the obtained results it can be concluded that the efficiency of treating the patients with dexamethasone is significantly superior than the efficiency of treating them with aflibercept. Conclusions The cost per QALY gained with the delayed-release device of dexamethasone compared with the one obtained by aflibercept in the naïve DME population is just below the €30,000 threshold, below which, new drugs are sometimes regarded as cost-effective strategies in Spain. In this model, the key variables with greater impact on the cost-effectiveness results were the selected time horizon, the chosen extrapolation method and the number of aflibercept and dexamethasone injections.
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