A recent study, published in the journal Nature looked into the six-month impact of switching neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema patients to faricimab instead of anti-VEGF therapy
Anti-VEGF therapy involves using medications to slow down vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) forming new blood vessels, while faricimab targets both VEGF and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2),
two proteins that play a key role in abnormal blood vessel growth and inflammation in the eye.
What is macular oedema?
Macular oedema is a condition caused by the accumulation of fluid in the macula. The macula refers to the central part of the retina responsible for sharp detailed vision.
The swelling can lead to blurred and distorted vision, some eye diseases it is often associated with include;
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Retinal vein occlusion
- Uveitis
This condition can be caused by several factors including diabetes, inflammation, or blockage of blood vessels.
Treating macular oedema
Treating this condition often depends on the cause of it, certain drugs are used depending on the underlying condition that caused it.
The study, at the Oxford Eye Hospital, looked at two ways to treat macular oedema and their outcomes. Patients who had previously only shown partial results to anti-VEGF injections switched to faricimab. A total of 116 patients (151 eyes) were included.
In a study of 28 patients with diabetic macular oedema (44 eyes), vision stayed about the same over six months. At the start, patients could read an average of 69 letters on a vision chart, six months later, this improved slightly to 70 letters.
There was also a noticeable improvement in the thickness of the retina (CST). It decreased from 355 microns to 317 microns, which is a significant reduction. The time between treatments also got longer. On average, treatments were spaced out by 1.4 more weeks, and in nearly half of the eyes (46%), the treatment intervals were extended over six months.
Overall the study showed that switching to faricimab for patients not responding to anti-VEGF injections improved anatomical response in several patients.
