Purpose: This retrospective exploratory study examines the visual acuity outcomes following a retinal vasculitis (RV) event possibly associated with intravitreal (IVT) biological drugs using a large ophthalmic registry, to gain a better understanding of RV’s impact on vision in real-world clinical settings. Methods: An ophthalmic registry was used in a retrospective exploratory analysis and focused on subjects who received IVT anti-VEGF and anticomplement therapies. We excluded eyes with RV in the visual acuity analysis that had received more than one IVT biological drug within 2 months before the diagnosis of RV to increase confidence that a single biological drug was possibly associated with the RV event. Results: A total of 1,998,399 subjects received IVT injections of biological drugs, and 2,115 subjects were diagnosed with RV in at least 1 eye. A total of 436 subjects (531 eyes total) were coded as having RV. There was a 78% increase in eyes that became legally blind (≤20/200 Snellen equivalent) and 46% increase in eyes reading 0 letters (≤count fingers vision) following the RV event. Conclusions: In the real world, the number of legally blind eyes substantially increased following the RV diagnosis. Given the retrospective and exploratory nature of this study, all interpretations should be made cautiously, including any suggested association between biological therapy and the occurrence of RV, and prospective studies are necessary to confirm these associations. Further research is indicated to improve the safety of biological therapies for retinal diseases and minimize the risk of serious complications such as RV.
Tunon-Robinson et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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