title: Short-term efficacy of intravitreal aflibercept for patients with treatment-naïve polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the short-term efficacy of aflibercept monotherapy for patients with treatment-naïve polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, consecutive case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-three consecutive eyes of 33 symptomatic PCV patients (17 men, 16 women, mean age 75 ± 8.7 years), not treated previously, received an intravitreal injection of 2.0 mg of aflibercept monthly for 3 months. Changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings, and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) findings 3 months after initial injection were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with baseline, mean BCVA at 3-month visit significantly improved (0.40 ± 0.34 vs 0.22 ± 0.20 log minimum angle of resolution [logMAR] unit, P < 12 0.001). Eight eyes (24 %) showed improvement in BCVA ≥ 0.3 logMAR unit, and no eyes (0 %) showed a decrease in BCVA of ≥ 0.3 logMAR unit. Mean foveal thickness improved significantly (348 ± 184 μm at baseline vs 194 ± 32 μm at 3-month visit, P < 15 0.001). At 3-month visit, 31 eyes (97 %) achieved dry macula evaluated on OCT. Polypoidal lesions disappeared completely on ICGA in 16 eyes (48 %), and the number and/or the size of polypoidal lesions decreased in nine eyes (27 %). The remaining eight eyes (24 %) had unchanged polypoidal lesions. A branching vascular network remained and was unchanged in diameter in all 27 eyes in which it was detected at baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intravitreal aflibercept was well-tolerated in patients with treatment-naïve PCV over the short-term.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 9208641, Japan, ijiri@p1.coralnet.or.jp.
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ijiri
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020256:Choroidal Neovascularization / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011127:Polyps / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D040262:Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D004396:Coloring Agents; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C533178:aflibercept; D040262:Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor; D007208:Indocyanine Green