Two-Year Switzerland Cohort Results from a Global Observational Study Investigating Proactive Dosing with Intravitreal Aflibercept 2 mg in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration
<b>Background/Objectives</b>: XTEND is the largest global, prospective, observational study of treatment-naïve patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) receiving 2 mg of intravitreal aflibercept (IVT-AFL) in routine clinical practice designed to examine the real-world effectiveness of IVT-AFL proactive treatment regimens. The outcomes from the Switzerland cohort are reported here. <b>Methods</b>: Patients aged ≥50 years were eligible if they planned to receive IVT-AFL 2 mg. After three initial monthly IVT-AFL injections, treatment intervals could be extended (4-week minimum treatment interval). Visual and anatomic outcomes, treatment exposure, and safety were assessed. Statistics were descriptive. <b>Results</b>: Fifty-one patients were treated. At baseline, the mean ± standard deviation (SD) best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 64.9 ± 17.9 letters, and central subfield thickness (CST) was 402 ± 106 µm. At month (M) 12 and M24, the mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) change from baseline in BCVA was +5.7 (1.9, 9.4) and +5.6 (1.3, 9.8) letters, respectively. In patients with a high baseline BCVA (≥70 letters [<i>n</i> = 28; mean ± SD: 77.5 ± 4.8 letters]), BCVA was maintained at ≥70 letters at M12 and M24 (mean change from baseline [range] +1.0 [-15.0, 11.0] and +1.1 [-10.0, 14.0], respectively). At M12 and M24, the mean (95% CI) change in CST was -125 (-161, -90) µm and -127 (-162, -93) µm, respectively. Patients received a mean ± SD of 9.5 ± 3.2 and 13.7 ± 6.0 injections by M12 and M24, respectively. No safety concerns were identified. <b>Conclusions</b>: In Swiss routine clinical practice, functional and anatomic improvements were achieved with IVT-AFL 2 mg proactive treatment in patients with nAMD over 24 months despite a relatively high baseline BCVA.
Authors
- Katja Hatz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2807-0310)
- Aude Ambresin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6543-3400)
- Tobias Machewitz
- Helmut Allmeier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5165-4851)
- Gábor Márk Somfai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6329-442X)
- Martin Schmid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5341-9209)
- Daniel Barthelmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5431-4991)
- Christian Prünte
Institutions
- University of Lucerne (CH)
- University of Basel (CH)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- University Hospital of Zurich (CH)
- Vista Klinik (CH)
- Bayer (Switzerland) (CH)
- Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (CH)
- Spitalzentrum Centre hospitalier Biel- Bienne (CH)
- Bayer (Germany) (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Published
- 2025-03-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14072370
- Primary Topic
- Retinal Diseases and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Bayer