Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34876232›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of retina and vitreous2021

Intravitreal aflibercept following treat and extend protocol versus fixed protocol for treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Alaa Din Abdin, Asem Mohamed, Cristian Munteanu, Isabel Weinstein, Achim Langenbucher, Berthold Seitz, Shady Suffo

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of retina and vitreous, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 29% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Alaa Din AbdinDepartment of Ophthalmology, Saarland University Medical Center UKS, Homburg/Saar, Germany. alaadinabdin@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8190-7277
Asem MohamedDepartment of Ophthalmology, Westpfalz Hospital, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Cristian MunteanuDepartment of Ophthalmology, Saarland University Medical Center UKS, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Isabel WeinsteinDepartment of Ophthalmology, Saarland University Medical Center UKS, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Achim LangenbucherInstitute of Experimental Ophthalmology, Saarland University, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Berthold SeitzDepartment of Ophthalmology, Saarland University Medical Center UKS, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Shady SuffoDepartment of Ophthalmology, Saarland University Medical Center UKS, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Saarland University · DEWestpfalz Klinikum · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo assess the morphological and functional outcome of intravitreal aflibercept following the treat and extend protocol compared to the fixed protocol for treatment of eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

methodsThis retrospective study included 126 eyes of 113 patients with primary onset neovascular age-related macular degeneration who were followed for 12 months. All eyes were treated with 2 mg/0.05 mL aflibercept. All eyes received an upload with three monthly aflibercept injections. We subsequently studied two groups of eyes. For group 1, 54 eyes were treated following the treat and extend protocol. For group 2, 72 eyes were treated following the fixed protocol (fixed 2-monthly interval). Main outcome measures included: best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT) and number of injections.

resultsBCVA (logMAR) in group 1 vs group 2 was (0.61 ± 0.3 vs 0.72 ± 0.3, p = 0.09) before treatment and (0.48 ± 0.3 vs 0.51 ± 0.3, p = 0.6) after one year of treatment. CMT in group 1 vs group 2 was (371 ± 101 μm vs 393 ± 116 μm, p = 0.5) before treatment and (284 ± 60 μm vs 290 ± 67 μm, p = 0.1) after one year of treatment. Number of injections/eye in group 1 vs group 2 was (8.5 ± 2.2 vs 7.0 ± 0, p < 0.001).

conclusionsSignificant differences regarding BCVA and central macular thickness were not found between both treatment protocols during the first year of treatment using aflibercept. However, a significantly higher number of injections was needed for eyes in the treat and extend group during the first year of treatment. This might suggest that aflibercept should better not be extended past an 8 weeks interval during the first year of treatment. STUDY REGISTRATION: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Association of Saarland, Germany (Nr. 123/20, Date: 16.06.2020). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Indexed as

AfliberceptFixed protocolNeovascular age-related macular degenerationTreat and extend

Identifiers

PMID34876232
PMCPMC8650262
OpenAlexW4200522864

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.