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  • Two-Year Follow-Up Study of...
    Kim, Jae-Gon; Kim, Yu Cheol; Kang, Kyung Tae

    Journal of clinical medicine, 02/2024, Letnik: 13, Številka: 3
    Journal Article

    regular intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment is crucial for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), and delayed treatment can exacerbate disease progression. we compared the outcomes of on-time versus delayed intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment for patients with nAMD. This study was conducted during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with a 2-year follow-up period. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and anatomical findings were evaluated before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and at 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-months post-pandemic. The delayed and on-time groups comprised 54 and 72 patients, respectively. After the pandemic, the injection interval increased by 0.65 ± 1.51 months ( = 0.003), with 22.2% of the patients in the delayed group switching to the treat-and-extended regimen ( < 0.001). The delayed group showed greater mean BCVA deterioration ( = 0.027) and central subfield thickness ( = 0.037) at 6 months and worse maximum subretinal fluid height ( = 0.022) at 18 months than the on-time group. No difference was observed between the groups in the second year. the negative effects of delaying anti-VEGF treatment because of the COVID-19 pandemic can be ameliorated by changing the treatment regimen and shortening treatment intervals.