Efficacy and Safety of Intravitreal Aflibercept Injection for Subacute Central Serous Chorioretinopathy

Summary

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a self-limiting disease that usually associated with good visual prognosis. In some cases, however, CSC may persist and result in permanent retinal or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) damage. Therefore, if the disease is persistent beyond the acute phase, an active treatment should be considered to prevent an irreversible damage to retinal function. The pathophysiology of CSC is associated with abnormal choroidal circulation. Indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) has revealed dilated and congested choroidal vessel and leakage into the extracellular space that appears as area of hyperfluorescence seen in middle and late phase in eyes with CSC. A goal of treatment has been focused on reducing choroidal hyperpermeability. Currently, photodynamic therapy with verteporfin (PDT) and intravitreal anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor)antibody injection are being tried in order to treat chronic CSC. PDT reduces choroidal hyperpermeability by inducing hypoperfusion of the choriocapillaris in the short term and choroidal vascular remodeling over time. Intravitreal anti-VEGF injection for the treatment of CSC also effectively reduces choroidal hyperpermeability by blocking vascular leakage. Both methods have shown to be effective with good functional outcome for treating chronic CSC in many reports, but until now there is no established standard treatment protocol for chronic CSC. Bevacizumab (Avastin) and ranibizumab (Lucentis) have been used widely as anti-VEGF therapeutic agent for the treatment of age related macular generation (AMD) and macular edema of various reasons. A newly developed anti-VEGF drug, aflibercept (Eylea○R), shows higher affinity to VEGF and has a longer duration of effect in the vitreous.FDA approved aflibercept to treat wet type AMD and macular edema due to central retinal vein occlusion. Until now, no study has been reported on the efficacy and safety of aflibercept for treating CSC. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal aflibercept injection for the treatment of idiopathic CSC

Timeline

Start

2013-10

Primary completion

2015-04

Completion

2015-05

Publications

• Background Dohrmann J, Lommatzsch A, Spital G, Pauleikhoff D. [Pathogenesis of central serous chorioretinopathy: angiographic and electrophysiological studies]. Ophthalmologe. 2001 Nov;98(11):1069-73. doi: 10.1007/s003470170027. German.
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• Background Spaide RF, Hall L, Haas A, Campeas L, Yannuzzi LA, Fisher YL, Guyer DR, Slakter JS, Sorenson JA, Orlock DA. Indocyanine green videoangiography of older patients with central serous chorioretinopathy. Retina. 1996;16(3):203-13. doi: 10.1097/00006982-199616030-00004.
• Background Bae SH, Heo JW, Kim C, Kim TW, Lee JY, Song SJ, Park TK, Moon SW, Chung H. A randomized pilot study of low-fluence photodynamic therapy versus intravitreal ranibizumab for chronic central serous chorioretinopathy. Am J Ophthalmol. 2011 Nov;152(5):784-92.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2011.04.008. Epub 2011 Jul 13.
• Background Lee JY, Chae JB, Yang SJ, Kim JG, Yoon YH. Intravitreal bevacizumab versus the conventional protocol of photodynamic therapy for treatment of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy. Acta Ophthalmol. 2011 May;89(3):e293-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2009.01835.x. No abstract available.
• Background Lim JW, Kim MU. The efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab for idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2011 Jul;249(7):969-74. doi: 10.1007/s00417-010-1581-9. Epub 2010 Dec 8.
• Background Semeraro F, Romano MR, Danzi P, Morescalchi F, Costagliola C. Intravitreal bevacizumab versus low-fluence photodynamic therapy for treatment of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy. Jpn J Ophthalmol. 2012 Nov;56(6):608-12. doi: 10.1007/s10384-012-0162-3. Epub 2012 Aug 23.
• Background Browning DJ, Kaiser PK, Rosenfeld PJ, Stewart MW. Aflibercept for age-related macular degeneration: a game-changer or quiet addition? Am J Ophthalmol. 2012 Aug;154(2):222-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2012.04.020.
• Background Frampton JE. Aflibercept for intravitreal injection: in neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Drugs Aging. 2012 Oct;29(10):839-46. doi: 10.1007/s40266-012-0015-2.
• Background Holash J, Davis S, Papadopoulos N, Croll SD, Ho L, Russell M, Boland P, Leidich R, Hylton D, Burova E, Ioffe E, Huang T, Radziejewski C, Bailey K, Fandl JP, Daly T, Wiegand SJ, Yancopoulos GD, Rudge JS. VEGF-Trap: a VEGF blocker with potent antitumor effects. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Aug 20;99(17):11393-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.172398299. Epub 2002 Aug 12.
• Background Brown DM, Heier JS, Clark WL, Boyer DS, Vitti R, Berliner AJ, Zeitz O, Sandbrink R, Zhu X, Haller JA. Intravitreal aflibercept injection for macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion: 1-year results from the phase 3 COPERNICUS study. Am J Ophthalmol. 2013 Mar;155(3):429-437.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2012.09.026. Epub 2012 Dec 4.
• Background Heier JS, Brown DM, Chong V, Korobelnik JF, Kaiser PK, Nguyen QD, Kirchhof B, Ho A, Ogura Y, Yancopoulos GD, Stahl N, Vitti R, Berliner AJ, Soo Y, Anderesi M, Groetzbach G, Sommerauer B, Sandbrink R, Simader C, Schmidt-Erfurth U; VIEW 1 and VIEW 2 Study Groups. Intravitreal aflibercept (VEGF trap-eye) in wet age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmology. 2012 Dec;119(12):2537-48. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2012.09.006. Epub 2012 Oct 17.
• Background Boyer D, Heier J, Brown DM, Clark WL, Vitti R, Berliner AJ, Groetzbach G, Zeitz O, Sandbrink R, Zhu X, Beckmann K, Haller JA. Vascular endothelial growth factor Trap-Eye for macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion: six-month results of the phase 3 COPERNICUS study. Ophthalmology. 2012 May;119(5):1024-32. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2012.01.042. Epub 2012 Mar 21.
• Background Do DV, Nguyen QD, Boyer D, Schmidt-Erfurth U, Brown DM, Vitti R, Berliner AJ, Gao B, Zeitz O, Ruckert R, Schmelter T, Sandbrink R, Heier JS; da Vinci Study Group. One-year outcomes of the da Vinci Study of VEGF Trap-Eye in eyes with diabetic macular edema. Ophthalmology. 2012 Aug;119(8):1658-65. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2012.02.010. Epub 2012 Apr 24.
• Lange CA, Qureshi R, Pauleikhoff L. Interventions for central serous chorioretinopathy: a network meta-analysis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2025 Jun 16;6(6):CD011841. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011841.pub3.

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