Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27077128›Full record

ArticleEBioMedicine2016

Regression of Some High-risk Features of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) in Patients Receiving Intensive Statin Treatment.

Demetrios G Vavvas, Anthony B Daniels, Zoi G Kapsala, Jeremy W Goldfarb, Emmanuel Ganotakis, John I Loewenstein, Lucy H Young, Evangelos S Gragoudas, Dean Eliott, Ivana K Kim and 2 more

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readClinical StudyMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in EBioMedicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04735263 (Dark Adaptation as an Early Indicator of Response to Statin Therapy for Intermediate AMD), which is not on this map. Cited by 96 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
96citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
16.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04735263 phase2recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Dark Adaptation as an Early Indicator of Response to Statin Therapy for Intermediate AMD

TypeinterventionalSponsorMassachusetts Eye and Ear InfirmaryRan2021 to 2028Enrolled21ConditionsAge-related Macular DegenerationArmsAtorvastatin 80mg
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

96 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 153 citations in OpenAlex.

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  7. DELP Treatment on Vision and Retinal Microcirculation in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: Report of Five Cases and Literature Review.Therapeutic apheresis and dialysis : official peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy · 2026
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36 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Demetrios G VavvasRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Anthony B DanielsRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Zoi G KapsalaRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jeremy W GoldfarbRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Emmanuel GanotakisRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
John I LoewensteinRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Lucy H YoungRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Evangelos S GragoudasRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Dean EliottRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ivana K KimRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Miltiadis K TsilimbarisRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Joan W MillerRetina Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary · US

Funding

P30 Core Grant for Vision ResearchP30EY014104 · NEI · MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY · PI Janey L Wiggs · 2002 to 2026
$15.1M
NEI NIH HHS P30 EY014104
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

importanceAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) remains the leading cause of blindness in developed countries, and affects more than 150 million worldwide. Despite effective anti-angiogenic therapies for the less prevalent neovascular form of AMD, treatments are lacking for the more prevalent dry form. Similarities in risk factors and pathogenesis between AMD and atherosclerosis have led investigators to study the effects of statins on AMD incidence and progression with mixed results. A limitation of these studies has been the heterogeneity of AMD disease and the lack of standardization in statin dosage.

objectiveWe were interested in studying the effects of high-dose statins, similar to those showing regression of atherosclerotic plaques, in AMD.

designPilot multicenter open-label prospective clinical study of 26 patients with diagnosis of AMD and the presence of many large, soft drusenoid deposits. Patients received 80 mg of atorvastatin daily and were monitored at baseline and every 3 months with complete ophthalmologic exam, best corrected visual acuity (VA), fundus photographs, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and blood work (AST, ALT, CPK, total cholesterol, TSH, creatinine, as well as a pregnancy test for premenopausal women).

resultsTwenty-three subjects completed a minimum follow-up of 12 months. High-dose atorvastatin resulted in regression of drusen deposits associated with vision gain (+ 3.3 letters, p = 0.06) in 10 patients. No subjects progressed to advanced neovascular AMD.

conclusionsHigh-dose statins may result in resolution of drusenoid pigment epithelial detachments (PEDs) and improvement in VA, without atrophy or neovascularization in a high-risk subgroup of AMD patients. Confirmation from larger studies is warranted.

Indexed as

AgedAtherosclerosisAtorvastatinFemaleHumansMacular DegenerationMaleMiddle AgedPregnancyProspective StudiesRetinal DetachmentRetinal DrusenRetinal Pigment EpitheliumRisk FactorsTomography, Optical CoherenceVisual AcuityAtorvastatinAMDHigh-doseReversalSoft-drusenStatinsVision gain

Identifiers

PMID27077128
PMCPMC4816836
OpenAlexW2271713754

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.