Treatment for neovascular age‐related macular degeneration in Sweden: outcomes at seven years in the Swedish Macula Register

Purpose To present Swedish Macula Register (SMR) data regarding treatment of neovascular age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) in clinical practice since 2008. Methods A retrospective register‐based study was conducted. Evaluation of baseline demographics, visual outcome and number of injections during this period is presented. Results Mean age at diagnosis was 79 ± (SD) 8 years; 65% were female. The proportion of patients with <2 months' duration of symptoms increased from 26% in 2008 to 41% in 2014 (p = 0.001). Mean visual acuity (VA) at baseline increased from 54.3 ± 15.0 early treatment diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) letters in 2008 to 57.8 ± 15.6 letters in 2014 (CI95 2.6; 4.3; p < 0.001). Mean VA after 1 year of treatment increased from 57.8 ± 17.7 ETDRS letters for patients who started the treatment in 2008 to 62.8 ± 16.4 ETDRS letters in patients starting treatment in 2014 (CI95 2.67; 4.64; p < 0.001). During all study years, the proportion of patients with an improvement in VA of between 5 and 15 letters was around 30%, while 14% had VA improvement of more than 15 letters. The mean number of injections during the first treatment year increased from 4.3 ± 1.9 in 2008 to 5.9 ± 2.9 in 2014 (CI95 1.40; 1.67; p < 0.001). Seven‐year follow‐up of 322 eyes showed a mean change of −1 letters from baseline, with a mean of 21 injections for the entire period. Conclusion The duration of symptoms before treatment decreased, while VA at baseline and after 1 year of treatment increased over the years and so did the number of injections. Long‐term follow‐up demonstrated stable VA.