Longer treatment intervals during pandemic show minimal impact on vision in macular degeneration patients

The COVID-19 pandemic led to longer intervals between injections for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, but this extension had a minimal impact on overall visual outcomes, suggesting that treatment intervals can be safely extended in some cases without significantly compromising vision, according to a new study.

The study analyzed data from 185 eyes of 141 patients treated under a treat-and-extend regimen at a single practice between December 2018 and April 2021.

Before COVID-19, the median injection interval was 60 days, which extended to 70 days during the pandemic—a mean increase of 7.2 days. Despite this extension, the study observed a modest decrease in best-recorded visual acuity by 3.1 letters and a reduction in central subfield thickness by 14.7 μm. However, these changes were deemed not clinically significant on a population level.

Patients with exudative intraretinal fluid or subretinal fluid experienced reduced treatment intervals and greater increases in central subfield thickness.

Reference

Nanji K, Kennedy K, Fung M, et al. Impact of COVID-19 on a real-world treat-and-extend regimen with aflibercept for neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Can J Ophthalmol. 2024;S0008-4182(24)00169-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjo.2024.05.027. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39033785.