Improvements of retinal sensitivity, visual acuity, and central retinal thickness after intravitreal injection of aflibercept in patients with wet age‐related macular degeneration

Purpose To determine the retinal sensitivity, best‐corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and central retinal thickness (CRT) in patients with wet age‐related macular degeneration (wAMD) after intravitreal aflibercept (IVA). Methods An observational study conducted at the Chiba University Hospital between October 2016 and March 2019. All patients were treatment‐naïve with wet AMD and received three monthly (induction phase) and bimonthly (maintenance phase) of IVA for 12 months. Each patient underwent spectral‐domain OCT, fundus autofluorescence, indocyanine green angiography, and microperimetry. The primary outcome was the change in the retinal sensitivity from the baseline at 6 months (6 M). The retinal sensitivity was determined by the average of 13 points within the central 2 degrees and measured by Macular Integrity Assessment (MAIA, CenterVue, Italy). The secondary outcomes were the changes in the BCVA, CRT, presence of subretinal exudations, and greatest linear dimension (GLD) at 12 M relative to the baseline. Results Thirty‐seven eyes of 37 patients were studied. The mean age was 72.8 ± 7.4 years (mean ± SD), and there were 26 men (72.2%). There were 18 eyes (49%) with typical wAMD and 19 eyes with PCV (51%). The mean retinal sensitivity was significantly improved from 15.4 ± 4.2 dB at the baseline to 19.9 ± 5.0 dB at 3M, 20.3 ± 4.5 dB at 6M, and 20.9 ± 4.6 dB at 12M (all p