Longer retinal fluid-free duration may have impact on visual outcomes in nAMD patients

Patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) who had longer retinal fluid-free periods had better visual and anatomic outcomes compared to patients who were ‘never dry’ after anti-VEGF loading, according to results from the HAWK and HARRIER trials presented at the 2021 ASRS Annual Meeting.

Pooled 96-week data from the Phase 3 HAWK and HARRIER studies from 2 groups (brolucizumab 6 mg and aflibercept 2 mg) were analyzed. A fluid-free month (FFM) was defined as the absence of sub-retinal fluid and intraretinal fluid.

At Week 96, patients with a maximum consecutive 10‒21 FFMs after the anti-VEGF loading phase (from Week 12 to 96) had a mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) gain of 7.8 letters and mean central subfield thickness (CSFT) -121.8 µm (-143.7, -99.8) lower. Patients with 22 FFMs after the anti-VEGF loading phase had mean BCVA of 8.0 letters and mean CSFT of and -127.8 µm (-152.2, -103.4) lower. Comparatively, patients who did not experience any FFMs had a mean BCVA 0.2 letters and mean CSFT of -86.2 µm (-106.0, -66.0) from baseline.

Reference
Eichenbaum DA, et al. Maximum Consecutive Fluid Free Months and Its Association With Visual and Anatomical Outcomes in nAMD: A Post-Hoc Analysis From HAWK and HARRIER. Presented at: 2021 ASRS Annual Meeting.