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Short-term outcomes of intravitreal faricimab for treatment-naïve neovascular age-related macular degeneration

  • Medical Ophthalmology
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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the efficacy and safety of loading phase treatment with 3 monthly intravitreal injections of faricimab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 16-week outcomes of 40 consecutive eyes of 38 patients with treatment-naïve nAMD. Three monthly injections of faricimab were administered to all eyes as a loading phase treatment. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), foveal thickness, central choroidal thickness (CCT), and dry macula achievement were all assessed every 4 weeks. Moreover, the regression of polypoidal lesions was evaluated after the loading phase.

Results

BCVA was 0.33 ± 0.41 at baseline and showed significant improvement to 0.22 ± 0.36 at week 16 (P < 0.01). Foveal thickness was 278 ± 116 µm at baseline, decreasing significantly to 173 ± 48 µm at week 16 (P < 0.01). CCT was 214 ± 98 µm at baseline, decreasing significantly to 192 ± 89 µm at week 16 (P < 0.01). Dry macula was achieved in 31 eyes (79.5%) at week 16. Indocyanine green angiography after the loading phase revealed complete regression of polypoidal lesions in 11 of 18 eyes (61.1%) with polypoidal lesions. One eye (2.5%) developed vitritis without visual loss at week 16.

Conclusion

Loading phase treatment with intravitreal faricimab appears to generally be safe and effective for improving visual acuity and reducing exudative changes in eyes with nAMD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-15 Showa-Machi, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan

    Hidetaka Matsumoto, Junki Hoshino, Kosuke Nakamura, Tetsuhiro Nagashima & Hideo Akiyama

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  1. Hidetaka Matsumoto
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  2. Junki Hoshino
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  3. Kosuke Nakamura
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  4. Tetsuhiro Nagashima
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  5. Hideo Akiyama
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Contributions

The authors were involved in the following aspects of the study: design and conduct (H.M.), collection of the data (J.H., K.N., T.N.), management (H.M.), analysis (J.H., H.M.), interpretation (H.M.), preparation of the article (J.H., H.M.), and review and final approval of the manuscript for submission (H.A.).

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Correspondence to Hidetaka Matsumoto.

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All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board of Gunma University Hospital and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Matsumoto, H., Hoshino, J., Nakamura, K. et al. Short-term outcomes of intravitreal faricimab for treatment-naïve neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 261, 2945–2952 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-023-06116-y

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