The Ars ophthalmica Network - a Disease Management Program between the Kepler University Hospital and ophthalmologists for the treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration

Abstract

Introduction: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness in industrial nations. Intravitreal injections with VEGF-inhibitors have been approved since 2004 and are currently the first-line treatment. In Austria, therapy is provided almost exclusively in hospitals. One challenge in anti-VEGF therapy is that the effect usually decreases or has passed after a few weeks. Therefore, regular check-ups and, if the disease is active, re-treatments are indicated. Within the Ars ophthalmica Disease Management Program (DMP) at the Kepler University Clinic in Linz, check-ups do not take place at the hospital, but at practice-based ophthalmologist. As soon as macular lesions are detected, patients are referred directly to the eye clinic for therapy. In this way, the intramural area can be relieved, the patients are monitored close to home and, if necessary, can be treated without delay by direct referral to the injection. This thesis characterizes the population of the Ars ophthalmica DMP and describes the visual acuity and the central retinal thickness during the treatment. Methods: The data of this retrospective explorative analysis were collected in the period from January 2015 (start of the DMP) to December 2019 at the eye clinic of the Kepler University Hospital in Linz. 363 eyes from 269 patients were included in the analysis. For the analysis, intervals of 2, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months after inclusion in the study were defined. Demographic parameters, visual acuity, central retinal thickness in the OCT (optical coherence tomography) and injection frequency are used as parameters. Results: The mean age of the patients at the start of the study was 78.6 (± 8.3) years. A total of 43% of the study population were already treated with at least one intravitreal injection before the start of the study. Avastin was administered more frequently (65%) than Eylea (35%). Pretreated patients received Eylea more often (Eylea in 41% of all pretreated patients) than first-time treated patients (Eylea in 31%). The mean LogMAR visual acuity of the study population was 0.55 ± 0.37 at the start of the study. Two months after therapy started, there was a statistically significant increase in visual acuity (0.47 ± 0.36; p

Datum der Bewilligung	2021
Originalsprache	Englisch
Gradverleihende Hochschule	Medizinische Universität Graz
Betreuer/-in	Gerald Seidel (Betreuer*in)