ArticlePloS one2021
Short term visual and structural outcomes of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment delay during the first COVID-19 wave: A pilot study.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Delayed anti-VEGF injections during the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in visual acuity in patients with three common retinal diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Survey of ophthalmologyPooled it
- Risk Stratification for Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Order Using Deep Learning: A Multicenter Prospective Study.Translational vision science & technology · 2023Trial
- The Burden of Delayed Diabetic Retinopathy Management and Use of Artificial Intelligence-Driven Screening Tools: A Systematic Literature Review.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2026Review
- Delayed anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and branch retinal vein occlusion-associated macular edema negatively affects visual outcomes.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Long-term effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on the structural and functional outcomes of neovascular AMD patients in Suzhou, China.PloS one · 2025Article
- Telehealth improves follow-up and monitoring of age-related macular degeneration during the COVID-19 pandemic.International ophthalmology · 2023Article
- Review
- Reasons for Delayed Anti-VEGF Treatment During COVID-19 Lockdown and Clinical Impact in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2023Article
- Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy Requiring Vitrectomy Over Clinic Management During COVID-19: Impact of Delayed Care.Korean journal of ophthalmology : KJO · 2023Article
- IMPACT study: Impact of adherence to anti-VEGF intravitreal injections for macular disease during COVID 19-related confinement in France.Acta ophthalmologica · 2023Observational
- COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdowns' Impact on Visual Acuity of Diabetic Macular Edema: A Large Cohort.Ophthalmologica. Journal international d'ophtalmologie. International journal of ophthalmology. Zeitschrift fur Augenheilkunde · 2023Article
- The importance of monitoring wet age-related macular degeneration patients during Coronavirus disease 19 pandemic: A retrospective study of assessment of functional and structural outcomes.Journal francais d'ophtalmologie · 2022Article
- Living Without a Diagnosis: A Patient's Perspective on Diabetic Macular Ischemia.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2022Article
- Effects of delay in anti-vascular endothelial growth factor intravitreal injections for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2022Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on visual outcomes of diabetic macular edema patients at a tertiary care veterans affairs center.Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2022Article
- Long-term impact of delayed follow-up due to COVID-19 lockdown on patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.BMC ophthalmology · 2022Article
- Impact of Delayed Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Therapy Due to the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic on the Prognosis of Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Short- and Long-Term Visual Outcomes in Patients Receiving Intravitreal Injections: The Impact of the Coronavirus 2019 Disease (COVID-19)-Related Lockdown.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- A model to quantify the influence of treatment patterns and optimize outcomes in nAMD.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Ocular and Systemic Complications of COVID-19: Impact on Patients and Healthcare.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Regularly scheduled intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections are essential to maintaining and/or improving many ocular conditions including: neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusions with macular edema (RVO). This study aims to assess the effect of unintended delays in anti-VEGF treatment during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This retrospective case series identified patients receiving regularly scheduled anti-VEGF intravitreal injections based on current procedural terminology (CPT) code at two practices in Minnesota. Diagnoses were limited to nAMD, diabetic macular edema (DME), proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and RVO. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether they maintained or delayed their follow-up visit by more than two weeks beyond the recommended treatment interval during the COVID-19 lockdown. The 'COVID-19 lockdown' was defined as the period after March, 28th, 2020, when a lockdown was declared in Minnesota. We then compared the visual acuity and structural changes to the retina using ocular coherence tomography (OCT) to assess whether delayed treatment resulted in worse visual outcomes. A total of 167 eyes from 117 patients met criteria for inclusion in this study. In the delayed group, the average BCVA at the pre- and post-lockdown visits were 0.614 and 0.715 (logMAR) respectively (p = 0.007). Central subfield thickness (CST) increased from 341 to 447 in the DME delayed group (p = 0.03) while the CST increased from 301 to 314 (p = 0.4) in the nAMD delayed group. The results of this pilot study suggests that treatment delays may have a negative impact on the visual and anatomic outcomes of patients with nAMD and DME. Future studies with larger sample sizes are required for further investigation.
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