Evaluation of outer retinal tubulations in eyes switched from intravitreal ranibizumab to aflibercept for treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration

To evaluate the changes of outer retinal tubulations (ORTs) as seen on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) where treatment was switched from intravitreal ranibizumab to intravitreal aflibercept. This was a prospective study of eyes diagnosed with neovascular AMD and previously treated with > 6 intravitreal ranibizumab injections and switched to aflibercept, conducted at a single centre (Department of Ophthalmology at Piti, Salpetriere Hospital, Paris VI University) from January to July 2015. Before and after treatment was switched from ranibizumab to aflibercept, SD-OCT was used to evaluate the presence of ORTs. Additional assessments in this patient group included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fluorescein angiography (FA), indocyanine green angiography (ICGA). Changes in pigment epithelium detachments (PED), presence of intraretinal cysts, and presence of subretinal fluid (SRF) were also noted. Twenty-four eyes of 24 consecutive patients (15 female/nine male, mean age 70 years) diagnosed with neovascular AMD and previously treated with > 6 intravitreal ranibizumab injections and switched to aflibercept were included in the analysis. After receiving aflibercept, patients were followed for a mean of 6.1 months. Prior to treatment switch, 97 % of eyes showed ORTs, while after treatment switch to aflibercept, at the end of the study period, 75 % had ORTs (p = 0.219). Changes in BCVA (LogMAR) were not statistically significant (1.16 +/- 0.44 to 1.18 +/- 1.06, p = 0.12), however, a significant reduction in central macular thickness (CMT) (from 406 mu m +/- 112 to 263 mu m +/- 68, p = 0.001), PED (from 70.8 % to 41.7 % , p = 0.016), presence of intraretinal cysts (from 83.3 % to 33.3 %, p = 0.002) and SRF (from 91.7 % to 25 %, p = 0.001 ) were noted. After switching from ranibizumab treatment to aflibercept, ORTs remained present in 75 % of eyes, and significant reductions in CMT, PED, and SRF, and presence of intraretinal cysts were observed.