title: Efficacy of intravitreal aflibercept in Japanese patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To clarify the efficacy of aflibercept for treating exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively studied 47 eyes with AMD. Forty-seven patients (mean age 72.2 years) received three consecutive monthly intravitreal aflibercept injections followed by an injection every 2 months until 12 months. The primary outcome was the 12-month visual results compared with baseline; the secondary outcomes were the prevalence of geography atrophy (GA), a dry macula at month 12, and anatomic changes on optical coherence tomography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in 27 eyes with typical AMD and 20 eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) significantly (p < 0.0001, p < 0.05, respectively) improved from 0.60 to 0.32 at baseline to 0.29 and 0.21 at month 12. At month 12, 22 (81.5 %) eyes with typical AMD and 17 (85 %) eyes with PCV had dry macula. The subfoveal choroidal thicknesses in typical AMD and PCV decreased significantly (p < 0.0001 for both comparisons) from 241 ± 118 and 294 ± 76 μ at baseline to 198 ± 104 and 244 ± 84 μ at month 12. Progressing or new GA was seen in three eyes with typical AMD and one eye with PCV; the mean change in the BCVA was significantly (p = 0.0026) worse at month 12. No other complications developed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intravitreal aflibercept significantly improved VA and anatomic changes in typical AMD and PCV over 12 months. Development of GA might be a risk for declining VA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan. masaaki@med.akita-u.ac.jp.|Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Hondo, Akita, 010-8543, Japan. masaaki@med.akita-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Kanako
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itagaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuju
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sekiryu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D040262:Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C533178:aflibercept; D040262:Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor
keywords: Aflibercept; Age-related macular degeneration; Geographic atrophy; Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy; Vascular endothelial growth factor