ArticleOphthalmology and therapy2021
The Effect of Treatment Discontinuation During the COVID-19 Pandemic on Visual Acuity in Exudative Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: 1-Year Results.
Article in Ophthalmology and therapy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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12 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characterizing and assessing vision-related quality of life among patients discontinued treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.Acta ophthalmologica · 2026Article
- Effect of COVID-19 Shelter-In-Place Orders on Visual Outcomes of Ophthalmic Surgical Emergencies.Ophthalmic epidemiology · 2025Article
- Treatment regimens for optimising outcomes in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.Eye (London, England) · 2025Review
- Efficacy, Safety, and Injection Frequency with Novel Aflibercept 8 mg in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Comparison with Existing Anti-VEGF Regimens Using a Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2025Article
- The ambition for a one-and-done vision-saving AAV vector.Molecular therapy. Methods & clinical development · 2025Article
- Understanding Loss to Follow-Up in AMD Patients Receiving VEGF Inhibitor Therapy: Associated Factors and Underlying Reasons.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Intravitreal Injection Planning during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Study of Two Tertiary University Centers in Italy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- 15 years of anti-VEGF treatment for nAMD: success or failure or something in between?Eye (London, England) · 2022Article
- Long-term persistence with aflibercept therapy among treatment-naïve patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration in a universal health care system: a retrospective study.BMC ophthalmology · 2022Article
- Long-Term Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown in Neovascular AMD Patients in Spain: Structural and Functional Outcomes after 1 Year of Standard Follow-Up and Treatment.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Long-term impact of delayed follow-up due to COVID-19 lockdown on patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.BMC ophthalmology · 2022Article
- The effect of the pandemic on the intravitreal injection treatment for patients with age-related macular degeneration, regardless of lockdown periods.Romanian journal of ophthalmologyArticle
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionTo evaluate the effect of a 9-week treatment deferral due to healthcare restrictions caused by Austria's first governmental lockdown associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on visual acuity (VA) in eyes compromised by exudative neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) after 1 year.
methodsRetrospective data collection of 98 eyes (98 patients) with a treatment discontinuation at a tertiary eye care center (Clinic Landstraße, Vienna Healthcare Group, Austria) between March 16 and May 4, 2020. Prior to the lockdown, patients received multiple intravitreal injections (IVI) of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor with a personalized treatment interval for 3 years on average and at least three IVI after the lockdown.
resultsWhen the treatment interval doubled to 117.6 ± 31.4 days in spring 2020, patients lost 2.2 ± 4.6 ETDRS letters (p = 0.002) on average before reinitiating therapy. In total, 4.1 ± 8.1 letters (p < 0.0001) were lost despite continuous individual re-treatment over the course of the next year. In a univariate analysis, the extended interval time remained statistically significant (p < 0.0001), indicating a larger VA reduction within intervals with increasing interval time in days.
conclusionThe short-term treatment interruption had a persistent negative impact on the VA course of eyes under therapy after 1 year. Continuous therapy independent of the underlying treatment regimen remains of utmost importance in exudative nAMD. Our data should create awareness to regulators regarding future decisions despite the global pandemic.
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