Seven-year Outcomes Following Intensive Anti-vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapy in Patients With Exudative Age-related Macular Degeneration

This study was conducted at two clinical sites in Budapest, Hungary after the "Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Trap-Eye: Investigation of Efficacy and Safety in Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (VIEW 2)" phase-3 multicenter, prospective, randomized, double blind clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT00637377).

Patients were treated with intravitreal anti-VEGF injections between 2008 and 2017. During the first 2 years in the framework of the VIEW 2 study, participants were randomized per protocol to intravitreal aflibercept or ranibizumab treatment arms and received injections according to the VIEW 2 study protocol.

This study focused on long-term outcomes that happened after the VIEW 2 study. After finishing the VIEW 2 study, patients returned to daily routine medical care and were followed under regular clinical care in real-life conditions and were treated with predominantly ranibizumab anti-VEGF injections (participants received interventions as part of routine medical care). Treatment was administered as needed according to the judgement of the physician. Retreatment criteria were based on visual acuity, signs of activity on optical coherence tomography (OCT) or indirect slit lamp biomicroscopy. Results at the end of the follow-up (year 7) were retrospectively analyzed.