Long-term outcomes and the association between early detection of retinal pigment epithelial atrophy and remission after loading dose in eyes with retinal angiomatous proliferation.

Purpose: To investigate the association between early detection of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) atrophy after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment and the long-term treatment outcomes in eyes with retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP).

Study design: A retrospective observational study METHODS: All patients with treatment-naive RAP initially received three monthly anti-VEGF administration with or without photodynamic therapy (PDT), followed by as-needed anti-VEGF administration. At 12 months post-injection, they were divided into two groups depending on the presence or absence of RPE atrophy. The visual and anatomic outcomes, and the incidence of 12-month remission were investigated within a 48-month follow-up.

Results: Thirty-seven eyes of 37 patients were included. The mean age was 80.4 ± 7.0 years, 54% were women. In the atrophy (+) group, 58.3% of patients achieved 12-month remission, significantly higher than the atrophy (-) group (p = 0.04). During the study period, best corrected visual acuity in the atrophy (+) group deteriorated from 0.50 ± 0.43 logMAR to 0.66 ± 0.47 logMAR (p = 0.14), while in the atrophy (-) group, it deteriorated significantly from 0.48 ± 0.27 logMAR to 0.76 ± 0.42 logMAR (p = 6.7×10^-3). The mean additional injections in the atrophy (+) group were significantly smaller compared with the atrophy (-) group at 3.5 ± 4.7 versus 15.3 ± 4.3, respectively (p = 9.0×10^-6).

Conclusion: Early detection of RPE atrophy was associated with the incidence of 12-month remission and reduced number of additional injections. The formation of RPE atrophy might suggest a decrease in the disease activity of RAP.