Long term follow up of faricimab intravitreal injections in naïve neovascular age related macular degeneration

Introduction: The aim of the study was to evaluate functional and anatomical changes at 44 weeks follow up in patients with naïve neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treated with faricimab intravitreal injections (IVIs). Methods: Fifty-four eyes of 54 patients with naïve active macular neovascularization and nAMD were enrolled at the Ophthalmology Clinic of University “G. d’Annunzio”, Chieti-Pescara, Italy. All patients were scheduled for faricimab IVI. Each patient underwent complete ophthalmic examination including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) charts and optical coherence tomography (OCT). All measurements were evaluated at baseline, at week 20 and then according to fixed retreatment interval up to week 44. Fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were also performed at baseline. Main outcome measures were changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), intraretinal fluid (IRF) presence, subfoveal subretinal fluid (SSRF) presence and thickness, pigment epithelial detachments (PEDs) presence and maximum height (PED-MH). Results: BCVA improved and CMT reduced significantly from baseline to week 44 (p=0.002 and p=0.020, respectively) in the overall sample with a higher significant improvement from baseline to week 20 (p<0.001 for both parameters) and no additional significant improvement from week 20 to week 44 in the overall sample (p=0.348 and p=0.146, respectively). At week 20, 72.3% of patients were in the Q12/ Q16 interval. Patients in q8 interval showed significant improvement of BCVA (p < 0.001) and significant reduction of CMT (p=0.008) from baseline to week 44 respectively. PED-MH as well showed a significant reduction from baseline to week 44 (p <0.001). Patients in Q12 interval showed significant improvement of BCVA (p=0.030) and significant reduction of CMT, SFCT and PED-MH from baseline to week 36 (p<0.001). Patients in Q16 interval show significant reduction of BCVA during follow up (p=0.026). CMT, SFCT and PED-MH were significantly reduced from baseline to week 44 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Faricimab showed efficacy in the treatment of naïve nAMD patients with an improvement of many anatomical and functional parameters at 44 weeks allowing to maintain a treatment regimen for most patients equal to or greater than 12 weeks.