title: Short-term changes in choroidal thickness after aflibercept therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate changes in choroidal thickness after aflibercept therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective, consecutive, interventional case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 102 eyes of 102 patients with treatment-naïve neovascular AMD. All 102 eyes underwent 3 consecutive monthly 2.0 mg intravitreal aflibercept injections at baseline, 1 month, and 2 months. Choroidal thickness during 3 months were evaluated using either swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) or enhanced-depth imaging OCT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 102 eyes, 46 eyes (45.1%) were diagnosed as typical neovascular AMD and 56 eyes (54.9%) as polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. After intravitreal aflibercept injections, the mean subfoveal choroidal thickness decreased from 252.0 ± 99.7 μm at baseline to 217.9 ± 95.6 μm at 3 months (P < .0001; percentage change from baseline, 86.5%). Mean choroidal thickness measured at 3 mm from the foveal center in the superior, inferior, temporal, and nasal directions also decreased significantly from 258.7 ± 85.9 μm to 236.4 ± 84.6 μm, 229.9 ± 93.0 μm to 208.6 ± 86.5 μm, 237.4 ± 86.5 μm to 214.6 ± 79.5 μm, and 183.7 ± 97.0 μm to 162.3 ± 90.6 μm, respectively (P < .0001 for all directions). Both subtypes of neovascular AMD demonstrated a similar trend toward decreasing choroidal thickness during the follow-up period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Choroidal thickness significantly decreased not only at the foveal center but also in the entire macula after 3 monthly intravitreal aflibercept injections for neovascular AMD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: koizumi.hideki@twmu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maruko
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuju
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sekiryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Annabelle A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iida
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002829:Choroid / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology*; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D040262:Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000187:drug effects; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
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