Abstract
AIMS: To report the mean change in Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and reading performance (reading acuity and maximum reading speed (MRS) using the MNREAD test) between baseline and 24 months in treatment-naïve patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treated with intravitreal aflibercept injections. METHODS: A prospective, open-label, interventional non-randomised case series with 24 months' duration. Patients were recruited to the study from medical retina clinics at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Intravitreal injections of 2.0 mg aflibercept in the study eye were administered using a fixed dosing regimen during the first year and a treat-and-extend treatment regimen during the second year of treatment. RESULTS: Fifty patients were enrolled with a mean age (SD) of 78.7 (7.6) years; a mean BCVA of 62.8 ETDRS letters; mean reading acuity of 0.52 logMAR; mean maximum reading speed (MRS) of 141.3 words per minute and a central macular thickness of 322.6 µm at baseline. The mean improvement in BCVA was 6.4 letters for the 44 patients (88%) for whom data was available at 2 years. The mean improvement in reading acuity was 0.13 logMAR with an improvement in MRS of 2.9 words per minute. The mean reduction in CRT from baseline was 104.8 µm. CONCLUSIONS: Aflibercept treatment of nAMD using fixed dosing in year 1 and treat and extend in year 2 leads to improvements in reading ability, visual acuity and retinal morphology which were maintained to 2 years of treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02441816, the VITAL study.