Age at occurrence of exudative age-related macular degeneration in a clinical setting: difference between 1986 and...

To our knowledge, there is no published study on the evolution of age of occurrence of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The present study was performed to test whether or not the average age of patients with newly diagnosed choroidal neovascularization (CNV) due to AMD has changed in a clinical setting during the past 20 years.

Nonrandomized comparative case study. Charts and fluorescein angiograms of consecutive patients diagnosed in 1986 and 2006 in a tertiary care center were analyzed to identify differences in age, gender and type of CNV. Mann-Whitney's nonparametric test was used to compare the statistical distribution of the parameters. χ(2) or Fisher's exact test was used for categorical variables.

357 patients with CNV due to AMD, 79 in 1986, and 278 in 2006 were included. The patients diagnosed in 2006 were 4.7 years older than those diagnosed in 1986 (80.1 ± 8.9 vs. 75.4 ± 6.7 years, p < 0.0001). The main increase was in the percentage of patients over 85 years: 11.39% in 1986 versus 26.98% in 2006. There was no significant difference between the two groups as regards gender or type of CNV.

In our clinical setting, the average age of patients with newly diagnosed exudative AMD increased significantly between 1986 and 2006. The fact that in the present series more than 1 out of 4 patients was over 85 may have a significant impact on the potential side effects of currently available treatments of exudative AMD.