Study identifies factors predicting functional outcome with anti-VEGF therapy in AMD patients

Foveal retinal pigment epithelium autofluorescence (RPE AF) and foveal retinal sensitivity are significant inpredicting functional outcome after therapy with anti-vascular epithelial growth factor in patients withage-related macular degeneration, according to Daniel Pauleikhoff, MD, of the Department of Ophthalmology, St.Franziskus Hospital, Muenster, Germany.

The prospective study that he discussed also found that an increase in visual acuity can be expected with normalfoveal AF if foveal sensitivity is greater than 4 dB, he added.

The researchers treated 128 patients three times at 4-week intervals with ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech).Patients with normal RPE AF were compared with those with changed RPE AF.

Before treatment, both groups had similar distributions of visual acuity. At 3 months after treatment, however,a significant difference existed: logMAR 1.0 was observed in 4% of those with normal AF and in 20% of those withchanged AF.

Changes in visual acuity during therapy differed between the groups. Increased visual acuity was observed in 84%of the normal AF group. Visual acuity was stable in 16% of this group and did not decrease in any members ofthis group.

Measured retinal thickness was similar in both groups. When divided according to foveal sensitivity (below orabove 4 dB), visual acuity also was similar in both groups before therapy. After 3 months, however, despiteobserving a similar reduction in retinal thickness in both groups, researchers observed a significant differencein visual acuity between the groups.