Psychophysical, electrofunctional, and morphological evaluation in naïve neovascular AMD patients treated with intravitreal anti-VEGF

Marcella Nebbioso; Federica Franzone; Alberto Milanese; Marco Artico; Samanta Taurone; Maurizio La Cava; Maria Luisa Livani; Vincenza Bonfiglio; Annarita Vestri

doi:10.1002/agm2.12296

Psychophysical, electrofunctional, and morphological evaluation in naïve neovascular AMD patients treated with intravitreal anti-VEGF

Aging Med (Milton). 2024 Apr 9;7(2):189-201. doi: 10.1002/agm2.12296. eCollection 2024 Apr.

Authors

Marcella Nebbioso¹, Federica Franzone², Alberto Milanese³, Marco Artico¹, Samanta Taurone⁴, Maurizio La Cava¹, Maria Luisa Livani⁵, Vincenza Bonfiglio⁶, Annarita Vestri³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sense Organs, Faculty of Medicine and Odontology Sapienza University of Rome Rome Italy.
² Ophthalmic Hospital, Medicine and Surgery University of Turin Turin Italy.
³ Department of Public Health and Infectious Disease Sapienza University of Rome Rome Italy.
⁴ Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences University of Rome Foro Italico Rome Italy.
⁵ S. Giovanni Addolorata Hospital, UOC Ophthalmology - Eye Bank Rome Italy.
⁶ Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience University of Palermo Palermo Italy.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the retinal morpho-functional characteristics of patients with neovascular wet age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treated with intravitreal injection (IV) of aflibercept (AFL).

Methods: The study was conducted on 35 patients previously diagnosed with type 1 nAMD who received a fixed-dosing regimen of aflibercept injections over 12 months. The goal was to assess trends in visual abilities over time by measuring visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity (CS), visual evoked potentials (VEPs), and spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). The same psychophysical, electro-functional, and morphological tests administered at baseline (T0) were repeated 4 to 8 weeks after the last aflibercept injection (Tn), resulting in a total of six examinations.

Results: At Tn, all subjects exhibited improved VA for both far and near distances compared to values detected at T0. Similarly, VEP amplitude and latency values at Tn showed a greater P100 improvement than those observed at T0. Additionally, the CS examination at Tn demonstrated improvement, particularly at high spatial stimulation frequencies. The Tn SD-OCT results highlighted a reduction in macular thickness compared to T0 values.

Conclusions: This exploratory research indicates that intravitreal injections of AFL, following a fixed-dosing regimen, represent a valuable therapeutic approach for enhancing visual performance. This conclusion is supported by comprehensive statistical analysis of psychophysical, electro-functional, and morphological examinations within the same group of patients with nAMD, as demonstrated for the first time.

Keywords: anti‐VEGF; contrast sensitivity (CS); optical coherence tomography (OCT); visual evoked potential (VEP); wet age‐related macular degeneration (AMD).