The factors associated with retinal pigment epithelium tear development in the early phase after treatment initiation for age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to evaluate the factors associated with retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tear development in the early phase after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug initiation in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and retinal pigment epithelial detachment (PED).

METHODS

Treatment-naive eyes with nAMD and PED for which anti-VEGF drug injections had been initiated and followed up for at least 3 months after the 1st anti-VEGF drug injection, were retrospectively investigated. Baseline characteristics of the PEDs, including type, height, and area, were evaluated using fundus photographs, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography images. The association between patient age, sex, medical history, PED characteristics, and the development of RPE tears within 3 months of starting anti-VEGF therapy was examined.

RESULTS

This study included 244 eyes (230 patients; mean age 75.0 years, 159 males and 71 females). RPE tears occurred in 13 eyes (5.3%) within 3 months of the start of anti-VEGF therapy. Multivariate analysis showed an association of the development of RPE tears with PED height (every 100 µm, odds ratio [OR]: 1.50, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-2.12, p = 0.019), PED area (every 10 mm, OR: 3.02, CI: 1.22-7.46, p = 0.016), and the presence of fibrovascular PED (OR: 59.22, CI: 4.12-850.59, p = 0.002). Eyes with cleft (the hypo-reflective space beneath the fibrovascular PED) were more likely to develop an RPE tear (p = 0.01, χ-square test).

CONCLUSIONS

Fibrovascular PED, large PED area, high PED height, and the cleft finding are independent risk factors for the development of RPE tears early after the administration of anti-VEGF drugs.