Treatment Results of Treatment-naïve Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration in Patients Over 85 Years of Age

Purpose: To investigate the characteristics and treatment results of patients aged ≥ 85 years who were diagnosed with treatment-naïve neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).Methods: The medical records of patients diagnosed with treatment-naïve nAMD who were ≥ 85 years old at the time of diagnosis with at least 12 months follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. The number of intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and agents used during the entire period were investigated. Best-corrected visual acuity and optical coherence tomography results before and after treatment were analyzed. Visual acuity of the fellow eye was also collected.Results: A total of 40 eyes of 40 patients with mean age of 87.5 ± 2.4 were included in the study. The mean logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution visual acuity was 0.85 ± 0.57, and the mean of the fellow eye was 0.93 ± 0.99. Compared to before the treatment, there was no significant difference after intravitreal injection in terms of visual acuity. Central retinal thickness showed significant reduction at all time points after treatment.Conclusions: In patients aged ≥ 85 years at the time of diagnosis, intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF prevented deterioration of visual acuity and showed successful anatomical outcomes. Especially, many had poor visual acuity in the fellow eye, suggesting the importance of maintaining visual acuity. Therefore, active treatment is necessary in the elderly.