Patterns of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment for chorioretinal vascular diseases: Analysis of a nationwide claims database in Japan.

Background: Although intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy is currently considered the first-line treatment for chorioretinal vascular diseases in Japan, information regarding its treatment pattern is scarce. This study investigated the patterns of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment for chorioretinal vascular diseases.

Methods: A health insurance claims database from acute care hospitals was used to estimate treatment intervals and continuation and drop-out rates regarding the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor. Patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with neovascular age-related macular degeneration or aged ≥18 years diagnosed with diabetic macular edema or retinal vein occlusion were analyzed.

Results: Data were included for 76,535, 49,704, and 37,681 patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion, respectively; exactly 8,111, 2,283, and 6,896 received the treatment, respectively. The mean and median interval ranges during the maintenance phase by treatment initiation year were 94-100 and 73-80, 111-120 and 98-102, and 97-103 and 87-93 days for neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion, respectively, without any trend over time. A tendency to increase the treatment continuation rate was indicated in later years by Kaplan-Meier curves. The drop-out rate in the treatment initiation year (2016) was 32% from 63% (2009), 53% from 69% (2014), and 36% from 47% (2013) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion, respectively.

Conclusions: For all these diseases, the treatment intervals did not change remarkably, and a tendency toward improved treatment continuation was suggested.