PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Louisa Maria Bulirsch
AU  - Marlene Saßmannshausen
AU  - Jennifer Nadal
AU  - Raffael Liegl
AU  - Sarah Thiele
AU  - Frank G Holz
TI  - Short-term real-world outcomes following intravitreal brolucizumab for neovascular AMD: SHIFT study
AID  - 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2020-318672
DP  - 2021 Apr 11
TA  - British Journal of Ophthalmology
PG  - bjophthalmol-2020-318672
4099  - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2021/04/11/bjophthalmol-2020-318672.short
4100  - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2021/04/11/bjophthalmol-2020-318672.full
AB  - Background Brolucizumab has recently been approved in Europe as a novel treatment for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). We report on early experiences with real-world outcomes of switch to brolucizumab therapy in previously anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF)-treated patients.Methods Patients with recalcitrant nAMD were switched to brolucizumab therapy. Functional and structural parameters 4 weeks after first brolucizumab injection were evaluated including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA (logMAR)), foveal centre point (FCP (µm)), central subfield retinal thickness (CSRT (µm)) and macular volume (mm³).Results Sixty-three eyes of 57 patients with nAMD (52.6% females) with a mean (±SD) age of 79.5±6.7 years were included. Mean change of BCVA was −0.02±0.13 logMAR (p=0.322). Significant reductions were recorded for FCP with a mean (±SD) change of −66.79±72.64 µm, −66.76±60.71 µm for CSRT and −0.27±0.24 mm³ for macular volume (all p<0.001). Intraocular inflammation was observed in seven eyes of seven patients, including one case of retinal vasculitis without occlusion.Conclusions The results of the SHIFT study indicate that switch to brolucizumab may represent a treatment option in patients with nAMD poorly responsive to other anti-VEGF agents. Further long-term analyses appear prudent to assess efficacy and safety of brolucizumab in a routine clinical setting.All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. All data relevant to this study are included in the article.