Aflibercept improves visual outcomes in patient with radiation retinopathy

In patients who have undergone radiation, poor, long-term visual acuity outcomes are common.

Data from a multi-center, prospective randomized clinical trial presented at ASRS 2022 found that intravitreal aflibercept injections (IAI) given in a treat-and-extend regimen improved vision and CRT in patients with radiation retinopathy (RR).

The study randomly assigned 39 eyes in 39 patients with RR to either cohort based on whether they did (Cohort 1) or did not (Cohort 2) receive a loading dose of 3 IAI followed by a treat-and-extend regimen.

At baseline, mean ETDRS BCVA letters were 64.4 and 52.8 with gains of 2.7 and 6.2 letters for Cohorts 1 and 2, respectively, over the first 52 weeks.

Between baseline and year 1 there were no significant differences in mean BCVA values overall and within cohorts, but there was a significant difference in the mean BCVA change from baseline between cohorts (P = 0.0025). A significant difference between baseline and year 1 mean CRT values overall (P = 0.00001) and within cohort 1 (P = 0.00030) and cohort 2 (P = 0.00087) were found.

At week 52, 97.2% of all patients in the study had vision of 20/200 or better; 50% of patients had vision of 20/40 or better; and 30.6% had improved ≥10 ETDRS letters from baseline. At week 52, only 2.8% of patients had 20/200 or worse vision.

Reference
Schefler A. Prospective Randomized Trial of Treat-and-Extend Intravitreal Aflibercept for Radiation Retinopathy: One-Year Outcomes. Presented at: ASRS 2022.