Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36471292›Full record

ArticleBMC ophthalmology2022

Atrophy of retinal vessels in neovascular age-related macular degeneration following long-term treatment with 20 intravitreal anti-VEGF injections.

Miklós D Resch, Aniko Balogh, Tilmann Kurth, Zoltán Z Nagy, Delia Cabrera DeBuc, András Papp

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC ophthalmology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% 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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Miklós D ReschDepartment of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. miklosresch@gmail.com.
Aniko BaloghDepartment of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Tilmann KurthDepartment of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Zoltán Z NagyDepartment of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Delia Cabrera DeBucBascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
András PappDepartment of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Semmelweis University · HUUniversity of Miami · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe study aimed to evaluate the changes in retinal vascular density in exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) after long-term anti-VEGF treatment using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A), and to compare these changes with the vascular density in AMD treated for one year and healthy eyes.

methodsIn our cross-sectional study OCT-A was performed on 60 eyes of 60 patients. Group AMD 20 × consisted of patients receiving long-term (minimum 20 injections) aflibercept therapy (n = 17), and Group AMD one year consisted of patients treated for one year with a treat & extend protocol (n = 25). The vascular density values obtained with OCT-A were compared with an age-matched control group of 18 healthy eyes. We examined the central retinal thickness (CRT), the vascular density of the fovea and parafovea in the superficial and deep retinal plexus, and evaluated the extent of the non-flow area and the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) on a 3 × 3 mm macular region. Kruskal-Wallis test was performed for statistical analysis.

resultsIn Group AMD 20x, the vascular density of superficial retinal plexus in the fovea (p = 0.0022) and parafovea (p < 0.0001) was significantly lower compared to Group one year and control group. In the deep retinal plexus, vascular density in the fovea (p = 0.0033) was significantly lower in both AMD groups compared to the control group, with no difference in the parafoveal region (p = 0.0774). The extent of non-flow area (p = 0.0003) and FAZ (p = 0.0008) were significantly larger in both AMD groups compared to the control group. There was a significant difference in CRT between those treated for one year and control eyes (p = 0.0036).

conclusionsIn our study, we demonstrated that macular vessel density was lower in the foveal area in the superficial retinal plexus in AMD patients after one year and long-term anti-VEGF treatment. These vascular density changes were absent in the parafoveal and whole areas of the deep retinal plexus. Our results indicate that long-term anti-VEGF treatment reduces the vascular density of the superficial retinal plexus to a greater extent compared to the deep retinal plexus.

Indexed as

Macular DegenerationRetinal VesselsAngiogenesis InhibitorsAtrophyCross-Sectional StudiesFluorescein AngiographyHumansIntravitreal InjectionsRetrospective StudiesTomography, Optical CoherenceAngiogenesis InhibitorsAnti-VEGFDeep retinal plexusExudative age-related macular degenerationLong-term treatmentOptical coherence tomography angiographySuperficial retinal plexusVessel density

Identifiers

PMID36471292
PMCPMC9721060
OpenAlexW4311284637

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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.