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RELATIVE QUIESCENCE OF EXUDATIVE AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION AFTER RESOLUTION OF POSTINJECTION ENDOPHTHALMITIS
Justin J Arnett1, Katarzyna Brodowska1,2, Denise S Gallagher1,2
1University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and.
Purpose:
To evaluate alterations in treatment burden and course of exudative age-related macular degeneration in patients who contracted endophthalmitis from intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections.
Methods:
Retrospective study at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center examining frequency of anti-VEGF injections, activity of choroidal neovascularization, and visual acuity before and after endophthalmitis treatment.
Results:
Twenty-one patients meeting inclusion criteria were identified, of whom 7 (33%) patients did not restart anti-VEGF treatment 12 months after endophthalmitis because of quiescence of exudative age-related macular degeneration without significant visual acuity loss (P > 0.05). Patients who resumed anti-VEGF treatment exhibited 32% and 38% decreases in injection frequency by 12 and 24 months after endophthalmitis, respectively (P < 0.05). On first optical coherence tomography follow-up, 10 patients exhibited quiescence of choroidal neovascularization activity, although there were no measurable changes in macular thickness (P > 0.05). No differences in post-endophthalmitis exudative age-related macular degeneration progression or treatment burden were observed when factoring adjuvant intravitreal steroid therapy, culture results, nor choroidal neovascularization subtypes.
Conclusion:
Endophthalmitis resolution is associated with a decrease in choroidal neovascularization activity and a reduction of anti-VEGF treatment burden in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration.