title: Association of neovascular age-related macular degeneration with month and season of birth in Italy.
abstract: In order to investigate the influence of season and month of birth on the risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (n-AMD) in Italy, we evaluated the month birth and sex of all patients, recorded in the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monitoring registry of the Italian Medicines Agency, born between 1925-1944, who received intravitreal anti-VEGF injections for n-AMD between January 1, 2013 and July 29, 2015. The numbers of all births in Italy in the same years, extracted from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, were used to calculate the expected number of n-AMD cases. Overall, 45,845 patients (19,207 men, 26,638 women) received intravitreal anti-VEGF for n-AMD; in the same years, 20,140,426 people (10,334,262 male, 9,806,164 female) were born in Italy. Comparing the observed number of n-AMD cases with the expected number of n- AMD cases in each season, we found that the season-specific risk for n-AMD was 2.5% higher for those born in summer (OR=1.03, Bonferroni-correctedP=0.008) and 3% lower for those born in winter (OR=0.96, Bonferroni-correctedP=0.0004). When considering the month of birth, the risk of n-AMD was 5.9% lower for people born in January (OR=0.93, Bonferroni-correctedP=0.0012). The factors causing such differences should be determined.
authors.affiliation: Azienda Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.affiliation: Departments of Sciences for Health Promotion and Mother Child Care, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casuccio
authors.affiliation: Italian Medicines Agency, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pani
authors.affiliation: Azienda Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Teresio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Avitabile
authors.affiliation: Eye Clinic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cillino
authors.affiliation: Azienda Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Uva
authors.affiliation: Azienda Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bonfiglio
authors.affiliation: Azienda Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Azienda Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Guglielmo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parisi
authors.affiliation: Eye Clinic, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Gilda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cennamo
authors.affiliation: Eye Clinic, University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Furino
authors.affiliation: Fondazione G.B. Bietti, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariacristina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parravano
authors.affiliation: Italian Medicines Agency, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Entela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Xoxi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reibaldi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000068258:Bevacizumab / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000069579:Ranibizumab / Q000627:therapeutic use; D040262:Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012042:Registries; D012621:Seasons; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C533178:aflibercept; C495058:pegaptanib; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D040262:Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor; D000069579:Ranibizumab
keywords: anti-VEGF; month of birth; neovascular AMD; neovascular age-related macular degeneration; season of birth