Abstract

P 273

Fundusautofluorescence in neovascular AMD after VEGF inhibitor therapy with Ranibizumab (Lucentis®)

Annette Hager, Kirsten Böker, Wolfgang Wiegand
Augenabteilung, Asklepios Klinik Nord, Heidberg, Hamburg

Objective
Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) is a parameter of integrity of the retinal pigment epithelial-/photoreceptor complex and shows definite patterns in dry AMD that are indicators for disease progression. The aim of our study was to assess the effect and prognosis of anti-VEGF treatment in neovascular AMD using Ranibizumab (Lucentis®) in FAF.
Methods
We included in this retrospective study only patients who underwent a fixed dosing regimen of 0.5 mg Ranibizumab 3 times every weeks and who had not experienced any AMD treatment (laser photocoagulation, PDT, intravitreal steroids or Bevacizumab) before. Lesion size was measured in fluorescein angiography (FLA) and FAF before and after treatment using a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscop (HRA 2) and correlated with visual function (visual acuity, logMar).
Results
Data of 80 patients (88 eyes) with an average age of 77.4±8.9 years were evaluated. Lesion size (greatest linear diameter, GLD) changed in FLA from 3.19±1.17 to 3.43±1.5mm (p=0,056) and in FAF from 3.87±1.6 to 4.0±1.8 mm (p=0.351), respectively. Visual acuity (logMar) improved significantly from -0.57±0.32 auf -0.47±0.33 (0.34±0.21 to 0.43±0.25) (p=0.001). The average follow-up was 32.9±8.4 days after the 3rd intravitreal injection. Postoperative development of visual acuity after anti-VEGF treatment was not correlated to initial lesion size in FLA (p=0.760) nor in FAF (p=0.537). Initial visual acuity was significantly correlated to visual acuity after anti-VEGF treatment (r=0.638, p<0.001).
Conclusions
In our group, there is no correlation between shortterm functional outcome after anti-VEGF inhibitor therapy and retinal imaging as assessed by FLA and FAF while initial visual acuity was of significant interest in predicting shortterm functional outcome of treatment. FAF is expected to be an important parameter in assessing longterm changes after anti-VEGF treatment in neovascular AMD due to longterm changes in the retinal pigment epithelial-/photoreceptor complex.

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