Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35918743›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of retina and vitreous2022

Intravitreal aflibercept for the treatment of patients with diabetic macular edema in routine clinical practice in Latin America: the AQUILA study.

Francisco J Rodríguez, Lihteh Wu, Arnaldo F Bordon, Martin Charles, JinKyung Lee, Tobias Machewitz, Margarete Mueller, Gabriela Del Carmen Gay, Jans Fromow-Guerra, AQUILA Investigators

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of retina and vitreous, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03470103 (A Prospective Observational Study in Patients With Wet Age-related Macular Degeneration or Diabetic Macular Edema to Assess the freQuency of Use of Intravitreal Aflibercept in Routine Clinical Practices in Latin America), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 20% 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.

NCT03470103 completednot on this map

A Prospective Observational Study in Patients With Wet Age-related Macular Degeneration or Diabetic Macular Edema to Assess the freQuency of Use of Intravitreal Aflibercept in Routine Clinical Practices in Latin America

TypeobservationalSponsorBayerRan2018 to 2021Enrolled643ConditionsMacular DegenerationArmsEylea (Aflibercept, VEGF Trap-Eye, BAY86-5321)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. [Work reintegration in patients treated for diabetic macular edema].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2026
    Observational
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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

10 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.

Francisco J RodríguezFundación Oftalmológíca Nacional, Universidad del Rosario School of Medicine, Cl. 50 ##13-50, 110231, Bogotá, DC, Colombia. fjrodriguez@fon.org.co.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1728-3444
Lihteh WuAsociados de Macula, Vitreo y Retina de Costa Rica, Primer Piso Torre Mercedes, Paseo Colon, San José, 10102, Costa Rica.
Arnaldo F BordonHospital Oftalmológico de Sorocaba, R. Nabek Shiroma, 210-Jarim Emilia, Sorocaba, SP, 18031-060, Brazil.
Martin CharlesCentro Oftalmológico Dr Charles, Riobamba 841, C116 ABA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
JinKyung LeeBayer AG, 13342, Berlin, Germany.
Tobias MachewitzBayer AG, 13342, Berlin, Germany.
Margarete MuellerBayer AG, 13342, Berlin, Germany.
Gabriela Del Carmen GayBayer SA, Doctor Ricardo Gutiérrez 3652, Munro, B1605EHD, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Jans Fromow-GuerraMacula Retina Consultores, Calle Sur 132, Las Américas, Álvaro Obregón, 01120, Mexico City, Mexico.
AQUILA Investigators
Bayer (Germany) · DEMinisterio de Agricultura y Ganadería de Costa Rica · CRFundación Neumológica Colombiana · COUniversidad del Rosario · COUniversidade de Sorocaba · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAQUILA (NCT03470103) was a prospective, observational, 12-month cohort study to understand treatment patterns and to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of intravitreal aflibercept (IVT-AFL) in patients from Latin America with diabetic macular edema (DME).

methodsTreatment-naïve and previously treated (switching to IVT-AFL) patients (aged ≥ 18 years) were enrolled from March 2018, with a primary completion date of September 2020, from Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico. Patients received IVT-AFL in a routine clinical practice setting.

resultsOf 258 patients in the full analysis set, 181 were treatment-naïve and 77 had received previous treatment. The mean ± standard deviation number of IVT-AFL injections by Month 12 was 3.7 ± 1.8 (treatment-naïve) and 4.0 ± 2.2 (previously treated). The median duration from diagnosis to IVT-AFL treatment was 1.8 months (treatment-naïve) and 16.0 months (previously treated). Mean best-corrected visual acuity (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters) improved from baseline to Month 12 by + 8.1 ± 17.7 (treatment-naïve; baseline: 54.5 ± 19.4) and + 4.6 ± 15.4 letters (previously treated; baseline: 52.9 ± 18.6).

conclusionAQUILA is the first study to assess the use of IVT-AFL in routine clinical practice in Latin America. Despite few patients being treated with the label-recommended regimen of 5 initial monthly doses or receiving ≥ 8 injections in 12 months, functional and anatomic visual outcomes improved during 12 months of treatment with IVT-AFL. Patients receiving the label-recommended number of injections had numerically greater improvements in visual acuity outcomes. Patients with DME treated regularly and more frequently with IVT-AFL therefore have the potential to achieve outcomes consistent with those observed in interventional studies. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03470103. Registered February 5, 2018, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03470103.

Indexed as

Clinical trialMaculaVision

Identifiers

PMID35918743
PMCPMC9344444
OpenAlexW4289518722

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.