scholarly journals Drusen and pigment abnormality predict the development of neovascular age-related macular degeneration in Japanese patients

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0255213
Author(s):  
Shoji Notomi ◽  
Satomi Shiose ◽  
Keijiro Ishikawa ◽  
Yosuke Fukuda ◽  
Kumiko Kano ◽  
...  

Drusen are known to be the important hallmark to predict the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The prevalence of drusen is lower in Asians compared with Caucasians so that the role of signs constituting early AMD is not well established in Asian populations as in Western countries. In this study, we retrospectively investigated clinical characteristics and 5-year incidence of neovascular AMD (nAMD) in the fellow eye of unilateral nAMD patients. Of 296 consecutive unilateral nAMD patients who had been followed up more than 5 years, 170 typical AMD, 119 polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, and 7 retinal angiomatous proliferation were included. To examine factors associated with nAMD occurrence in the fellow eye, drusen and pigmentary abnormality in the fellow eye were classified into 4 categories; Category 1: no or small drusen < 63 μm (37.2%), Category 2: 63–125 μm medium drusen or pigmentary abnormality (22.2%), Category 3: large drusen > 125 μm (25.0%), Category P: pachydrusen (15.5%). The mean sub-foveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) was Category 1: 276 μm, Category 2: 308 μm, Category 3: 246 μm, and Category P: 302 μm, respectively. Of note, SFCT in Category 2 and Category P was significantly larger than those of Category 3. Finally, the 5-year incidence of nAMD in the fellow eye was 32/296 (10.8%); Category 1: 0/110 (0%), Category 2: 12/66 (18.2%), Category 3: 20/74 (27.0%), and Category P: 0/46 (0%). Thus, signs of intermediate AMD (large drusen) as well as those of early AMD, especially the pigmentary abnormality, may contribute to development of bilateral nAMD in Japanese patients.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 251584142098458
Author(s):  
Koki Ishibashi ◽  
Masatoshi Haruta ◽  
Yumi Ishibashi ◽  
Rie Noda ◽  
Shotaro Dake ◽  
...  

Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine the 4-year visual and anatomic outcomes of intravitreal aflibercept treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using a treat-and-extend (TAE) regimen. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 39 patients with neovascular AMD who were treated continuously with intravitreal aflibercept injections using the TAE regimen for at least 4 years. The outcome measures were the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. The BCVAs were measured as decimal values and converted to the corresponding Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letter scores for statistical analysis. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the differences in BCVAs and CMTs. Results: The mean ETDRS letter scores improved significantly from 63.9 at baseline to 70.4, 67.8, 67.2, and 67.3 at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively. The mean baseline CMT was 380 µm, which decreased significantly to 229, 231, 221, and 210 µm at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively. The mean numbers of injections were 7.9, 6.0, 5.5, and 5.4 at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively. The percentages of patients with a treatment interval of 12 weeks or more were 46.2%, 46.2%, 43.6%, and 46.2% at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively. At year 4, 30.8% of the patients had a treatment interval of 7 weeks or less, whereas 25.6% had 16 weeks or more. Conclusion: Intravitreal aflibercept TAE treatment may be an effective and efficient method for treating patients with neovascular AMD up to 4 years of follow-up. The TAE regimen is a potential tool to optimize appropriate treatment intervals, avoiding both undertreatment and overtreatment of neovascular AMD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 1218-1226
Author(s):  
Gon Soo Choe ◽  
Jong Woo Kim ◽  
Chul Gu Kim ◽  
Jae Hui Kim

Purpose: To investigate the limited response to aflibercept after switching to aflibercept in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: This retrospective study included 70 eyes with neovascular AMD that were initially treated with ranibizumab and then switched to aflibercept. The incidence and timing of the limited response to aflibercept were identified and visual outcome was compared between eyes with and without limited response. In addition, factors predictive of limited response were analyzed. Results: A limited response to aflibercept was noted in approximately 1/5 of the patients who underwent switching to aflibercept in neovascular AMD. Switching to aflibercept was performed at a mean of 16.2 ± 12.7 months after diagnosis. During the mean 34.7 months of follow-up after switching, limited response was noted in 15 eyes (21.4%) at a mean of 22.0 ± 13.9 months after switching. The degree of reduction in visual acuity was mean logMAR 0.34 ± 0.41 in eyes with limited response and mean 0.06 ± 0.20 in eyes without (p = 0.002). In addition, the duration between the diagnosis and the switching was shorter (p = 0.012), and the number of ranibizumab injections before switching was lower (p = 0.016) in eyes with limited response than in eyes without. Conclusions: Patients who showed limited response to aflibercept after switching to aflibercept showed a worse visual outcome. The probability of having a limited response is higher when the switching is performed earlier.


2009 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Dirk van Norren ◽  
Martijn Kanis ◽  
◽  

In this article, we highlight a method that probes the directional sensitivity of cones, in particular those in the fovea. Directional sensitivity is a unique property of cones, i.e. it is not shared by any other retinal element, and can be taken as a measure of the health of cones. In a group of healthy subjects, the directional reflection was 1.78%. In early age-related macular degeneration (AMD), despite a healthy-looking fovea, the mean directional reflection was 0.92%; in late AMD, the figure decreased further to 0.86%. These findings point to a malfunctioning of the outer segments. In addition, the method yields an estimate of the optical density of macular pigment. In early AMD, the macular pigment did not differ from normal; this finding did not point to a protecting role of macular pigment in AMD.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 310-313
Author(s):  
Maxwell S. Stem ◽  
Danny A. Mammo ◽  
Yoshihiro Yonekawa ◽  
Bozho Todorich ◽  
Benjamin J. Thomas ◽  
...  

Purpose: To report the clinical findings in patients ≥100 years old who have age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: We identified patients ≥100 years old who had non-neovascular AMD, neovascular AMD or both. Results: Sixty-two patients were included. The mean (SD) age was 102 (1.4) years (range, 100-106 years). Most patients were white (n = 51, 82%), women (n = 51, 82%), and had at least 1 eye affected by neovascular AMD (n = 55, 89%). The mean Snellen visual acuity (VA) among eyes with neovascular AMD was worse than that for eyes with non-neovascular AMD (20/600 [range, 20/40-hand motions] vs 20/250 [range, 20/20-hand motions], respectively, P = .03). Eyes with an intact subfoveal ellipsoid zone (EZ) had much better mean VA than eyes with an absent or disrupted EZ (20/50 vs 20/500, P = .002). Conclusion: Most centenarians with AMD in our cohort had the neovascular form, and these individuals tended to have poorer vision than those with non-neovascular AMD. The presence of an intact subfoveal EZ is associated with better VA in eyes with neovascular or non-neovascular AMD compared to eyes with an absent or disrupted EZ.


2015 ◽  
Vol 234 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederico Braga Pereira ◽  
Carlos Eduardo Veloso ◽  
Gregg T. Kokame ◽  
Márcio B. Nehemy

Purpose: To report features of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Brazilian patients. Procedures: Data were prospectively collected from patients diagnosed with neovascular AMD. Eyes were classified as having typical neovascular AMD, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), or retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP). Results: In total, 265 eyes of 207 patients of predominantly Caucasian ancestry were included; 166 (62.6%) eyes had typical neovascular AMD, 65 (24.5%) eyes had PCV, and 34 (12.8%) eyes had RAP. RAP demonstrated a higher percentage of bilateral cases (p = 0.015). The mean foveal subfield thickness was significantly lower in eyes with PCV (p < 0.001). Cases with typical neovascular AMD had a higher percentage of predominantly classic and minimally classic lesions on fluorescein angiography (FA; p = 0.005). Conclusions: In Brazilian patients, PCV and RAP represented 24.5 and 12.8% of neovascular AMD cases. Neovascular AMD subtypes differ in relation to clinical features, mean foveal subfield thickness and FA presentation.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261320
Author(s):  
Masaaki Saito ◽  
Tomohiro Iida ◽  
Kuniharu Saito ◽  
Mariko Kano ◽  
Kanako Itagaki ◽  
...  

Purpose The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Japanese patients over a 10-year period and to compare the past our report. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 1,600 treatment-naïve patients (1,777 eyes) with exudative AMD. The 10 years were divided into 2-year phases I to V. Results Of the 1,600 patients, 720 (45.0%), 733 (45.8%), 98 (6.1%), and 49 (3.1%) were diagnosed with typical AMD, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), retinal angiomatous proliferation, and combined subtypes, respectively. The prevalence of PCV decreased from 54.7% in phase I to 46.0% at phase V. Of the 1,777 eyes, the mean baseline logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution best-corrected visual acuities (BCVAs) in phases I, II, III, IV, and V were 0.70, 0.66, 0.55, 0.50, and 0.48, respectively. Phases III, IV, and V had significantly (P = 0.0012, P<0.0001, P<0.0001, respectively) better baseline VAs compared with phase I. The mean lesion sizes in phases I, II, III, IV, and V were 8.6, 6.7, 5.3, 5.7, and 5.7 Macular Photocoagulation Study disc areas, respectively. The sizes were significantly (P<0.0001 for all comparisons) smaller in phases III, IV, and V compared with phase I. Conclusions Although the prevalence of PCV decreased from 54.7% in phase I to 46.0% at phase V, PCV has nevertheless been highly prevalent in Japanese patients with AMD compared with Caucasian patients. The annual better baseline VAs and smaller lesion sizes over time might be related to development of treatment and better concerns about AMD.


2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 273-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiro Miyake ◽  
Masaaki Saito ◽  
Kenji Yamashiro ◽  
Tetsuju Sekiryu ◽  
Nagahisa Yoshimura

2021 ◽  
pp. 112067212110057
Author(s):  
Pierre Gascon ◽  
Prithvi Ramtohul ◽  
Charles Delaporte ◽  
Sébastien Kerever ◽  
Danièle Denis ◽  
...  

Purpose: To report the visual and anatomic outcomes in treatment-naïve neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) patients treated with aflibercept under a standardized Treat and Extend (T&E) protocol for up to 3 years of follow-up in “real-life” practice. Methods: This retrospective, observational, multicenter study included patients with treatment-naïve nAMD and at least 12 months of follow-up. T&E regimen adjustment was initiated after loading phase. At each visit best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and optical coherence tomography parameters were performed. Results: One hundred and thirty-six eyes of 115patients had at least 1 year of follow-up with 114 and 82 eyes completing at least 2 and 3 years of follow-up, respectively (mean follow-up duration: 2.7 ± 1.3 years). Mean age was 78.6 ± 8.6 years old and 52% were women. Mean BCVA increased from 60.6 ± 18.7 letters at diagnosis to 66.9 ± 16.2 letters at 1 year (+6.3 letters, p = 0.003) and remained stable throughout the follow-up period (63.1 ± 20.3 letters (+2.5, p = 0.1) and 64.0 ± 20.1 letters (+3.4, p = 0.27) at 2 and 3 years, respectively). The mean central retinal thickness decreased significantly from 358.2 ± 87.9 µm at baseline to 302 ± 71.7 µm at 12 months and maintained stable after 36 months of follow-up (297.1 ± 76 µm, p < 0.0001). Mean number of injections was 6.6 ± 2.2, 4.8 ± 1.9, and 5.6 ± 1.7 at 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Mean cumulative number of 16.4 ± 5.6 injections after 3 years. Mean treatment interval was 6.8 ± 2.5 weeks at 1 year. Eight-week and 12-week treatment interval were achieved in 59.5% and 19.1%, 65.8%, and 36.8% and 69.5% and 41.5% at 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that intravitreal injections of aflibercept initiated under a standardized T&E for patients with treatment-naïve nAMD allow for significant visual improvement at 12 months, which was maintained over a 3-year follow-up period.


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