The relationship between vascular endothelial dysfunction and treatment frequency in neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE: To assess the correlation between endothelial dysfunction and frequency of antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

METHODS: We examined 64 consecutive patients with nAMD who were evaluated for endothelial function by use of peripheral arterial tonometry (EndoPAT 2000; Itamar Medical, Caesarea, Israel) at Toyama University Hospital from January 2015. We tallied the number of anti-VEGF treatments between January 2014 and December 2015 and determined the correlation between the number of anti-VEGF injections and endothelial function expressed as the reactive hyperemia index (RHI). Multiple regression analysis was also performed to identify the independent predictors of a larger number of injections.

RESULTS: The mean number of anti-VEGF injections was 8.2 ± 3.3. The mean lnRHI was 0.47 ± 0.17. The lnRHI correlated with the number of anti-VEGF injections (r = -0.56; P = 0.030). The multiple regression analysis revealed that endothelial function, neovascular subtypes, and treatment regimens were associated with the number of injections.

CONCLUSIONS: Endothelial dysfunction may affect the efficacy of anti-VEGF therapy. Neovascular subtypes may also predict a larger number of injections.