Ankoor R. Shah

Incidence of Choroidal Neovascularization in the Fellow Eye in the Comparison of Age-related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials

OBJECTIVE To assess the influence of drug; dosing regimen; and traditional, nontraditional, and genetic risk factors on the incidence of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in the fellow eye of patients treated for CNV with ranibizumab or bevacizumab. DESIGN Cohort study of patients enrolled in a multicenter, randomized clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS Patients with no CNV in the fellow eye at the time of enrollment in the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT). METHODS Eligibility criteria for the clinical trial required that study eyes have evidence on fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography of CNV secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and visual acuity between 20/25 and 20/320. Treatment for the study eye was assigned randomly to either ranibizumab or bevacizumab and to 3 different regimens for dosing over a 2-year period. The genotypes for 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with risk of AMD were determined. Only patients without CNV in the fellow eye at baseline were considered at risk. The CATT ophthalmologists examined patients every 4 weeks through 2 years and recorded treatment for CNV in the fellow eye. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Development of CNV in the fellow eye. RESULTS Among 1185 CATT participants, 727 (61%) had no CNV in the fellow eye at enrollment. At 2 years, CNV had developed in 75 (20.6%) of 365 patients treated with ranibizumab and in 60 (16.6%) of 362 patients treated with bevacizumab (absolute difference, 4.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.7% to 9.6%; P = 0.17). The risk ratio for pro re nata dosing relative to monthly dosing was 1.1 (95% CI, 0.8-1.6). Greater elevation of the retinal pigment epithelium and fluid in the foveal center of the study eye were associated with increased incidence of CNV in the fellow eye. Incidence was not associated with genotype on rs1061170 (CFH), rs10490924 (ARMS2), rs11200638 (HTRA1), and rs2230199 (C3; P>0.35). CONCLUSIONS Through 2 years, there was no statistically significant difference between ranibizumab and bevacizumab in incidence of CNV in the fellow eye. Genotype on 4 SNPs previously found to be associated with AMD did not affect the risk of CNV in the fellow eye among CATT patients. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S) Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.

Outcomes, Impact on Management, and Costs of Fungal Eye Disease Consults in a Tertiary Care Setting

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of clinical management changes resulting from inpatient ophthalmic consultations for fungemia and the associated costs. DESIGN Retrospective case series. PARTICIPANTS Three hundred forty-eight inpatients at a tertiary care center between 2008 and 2012 with positive fungal blood culture results, 238 of whom underwent an ophthalmologic consultation. METHODS Inpatient charts of all fungemic patients were reviewed. Costs were standardized to the year 2014. The Student t test was used for all continuous variables and the Pearson chi-square test was used for categorical variables. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence of ocular involvement, rate of change in clinical management, mortality rate of fungemic patients, and costs of ophthalmic consultation. RESULTS Twenty-two (9.2%) of 238 consulted patients with fungemia had ocular involvement. Twenty patients had chorioretinitis and 2 had endophthalmitis. Only 9 patients (3.7%) had a change in management because of the ophthalmic consultation. One patient underwent bilateral intravitreal injections. Thirty percent of consulted patients died before discharge or were discharged to hospice. The total cost of new consults was

Progression of Lesion Size in Untreated Eyes With Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration A Meta-analysis Using Lineweaver-Burk Plots

36 927.54 (

Short-term Efficacy of Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant in Vitrectomized Eyes with Recalcitrant Diabetic Macular Edema and Prior Anti-VEGF Therapy

204.19/initial level 5 visit and

Treatment of ocular surface squamous neoplasia with topical Aloe vera drops

138.63/initial level 4). The cost of follow-up visits was

WIDEFIELD FLUORESCEIN ANGIOGRAPHY IN PATIENTS WITHOUT PERIPHERAL DISEASE: A Study of Normal Peripheral Findings.

13 655.44 (

Receiver operating characteristic curve to predict anti-VEGF resistance in retinal vein occlusions and efficacy of Ozurdex.

104.24/visit). On average, 26.4 patients were evaluated to find 1 patient needing change in management, with an average cost of

Regulatory and Economic Considerations of Retinal Drugs.

5620.33 per change in 1 patients management. CONCLUSIONS Clinical management changes resulting from ophthalmic consultation in fungemic patients were uncommon. Associated costs were high for these consults in a patient population with a high mortality rate. Together, these data suggest that the usefulness of routine ophthalmic consultations for all fungemic patients is likely to be low.

Endoilluminator phototoxic maculopathy associated with combined ICG-assisted epiretinal membrane and internal limiting membrane peeling

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that the natural history of choroidal neovascularization lesion size is uniform across prior randomized controlled clinical trials of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with apparent differences arising from different entry times of eyes into clinical trials. METHODS We conducted a retrospective meta-analysis of control eye data from 5 age-related macular degeneration trials (Treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration with Photodynamic Therapy; Verteporfin in Photodynamic Therapy; VEGF Inhibition Study in Ocular Neovascularization; Minimally Classic/Occult Trial of the Anti-VEGF Antibody Ranibizumab in the Treatment of Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration; and Phase 3b, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-masked, Sham Injection-controlled Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Ranibizumab in Subjects with Subfoveal Choroidal Neovascularization with or without Classic Choroidal Neovascularization Secondary to AMD Study), which were plotted on a double reciprocal plot of 1 / lesion size (disc area) vs 1 / time (months after enrollment). To account for the different entry times, we introduced a horizontal translation factor to shift each data subset until r2 was maximized for the cumulative trend line. RESULTS Cumulative data for untreated control eyes fit a straight line on a double reciprocal plot (r2 = 0.98) after the introduction of horizontal translation factors. Our model predicts that a choroidal neovascular lesion will eventually enlarge to a size of 10.6 disc areas without treatment and that the lesion will reach half of its maximum size within 14.0 months after onset of exudation. The linear expansion rate of untreated lesions is approximately 26.0 μm per day for the smallest lesions and decreases gradually as the lesions enlarge. CONCLUSIONS The pattern of choroidal neovascularization lesion size enlargement in AMD eyes is uniform across a wide range of clinical trials, with apparent differences arising from different entry times of patients into various trials. The main determinant of choroidal neovascularization lesion size enlargement is the duration of exudative disease.

Prediction of Anti-VEGF Response in Diabetic Macular Edema After 1 Injection:

Purpose: To determine the efficacy of an intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI) for diabetic macular edema (DME) in vitrectomized eyes. Methods: This interventional retrospective consecutive case series included vitrectomized eyes undergoing IDI placement for treatment of recalcitrant DME between June 2011 and June 2014. All patients had previously received anti-VEGF therapy (ranibizumab or bevacizumab). Primary endpoints were changes in visual acuity (VA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) from baseline values one month after device implantation. Secondary endpoints were VA and CRT changes at 3 months. Results: A total of 8 eyes of 8 patients met the inclusion criteria. One month after IDI placement, there was a significant (p = 0.01) improvement in VA from 0.79 ± 0.52 logMAR (20/123 Snellen equivalent) to 0.64 ± 0.55 logMAR (20/88), meanwhile CRT improved from 455.75 ± 123.19 to 295.00 ± 90.39 μm (p = 0.02). These findings persisted at 3 months. Conclusion: In vitrectomized eyes previously treated with anti-VEGF agents for recalcitrant DME, implantation of the IDI appears to be efficacious in improving VA and CRT at 1-month with the observed benefits persisting for at least for 3 months.