TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapy for Diabetic Macular Edema in Japan
AU - Komori, Ryohei
AU - Takamura, Yoshihiro
AU - Yamada, Yutaka
AU - Morioka, Masakazu
AU - Matsubara, Hisashi
AU - Hirano, Takao
AU - Mitamura, Yoshinori
AU - Shimizu, Miho
AU - Kusuhara, Sentaro
AU - Murakami, Tomoya
AU - Nihei, Ryotaro
AU - Ueda, Tetsuo
AU - Kunikata, Hiroshi
AU - Jujo, Tatsuya
AU - Terasaki, Hiroto
AU - Nagasato, Daisuke
AU - Noda, Kousuke
AU - Osaka, Rie
AU - Nagai, Kazuki
AU - Yoshida, Shigeo
AU - Nozaki, Miho
AU - Noma, Hidetaka
AU - Ishigooka, Gaku
AU - Takahashi, Aya
AU - Sawada, Osamu
AU - Kimura, Kazuhiro
AU - Inatani, Masaru
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by a grant-in-aid for scientific research (J160000936) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy for diabetic macular edema (DME) improves visual acuity. However, repeated injections during routine outpatient visits are required to maintain this effect. The recent sudden global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had a major impact on daily life, including medical care, such as the provision of VEGF therapy. We retrospectively investigated the relationship between the number of anti-VEGF injections for DME and the number of new COVID-19-positive patients at 23 centers in Japan. We also surveyed ophthalmologists regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anti-VEGF therapy. In the third and fourth waves of the pandemic, when the number of infected patients increased, the number of injections significantly decreased. In the first, third, and fourth waves, the number of injections increased significantly during the last month of each wave. Approximately 60.9% of ophthalmologists reported that the number of injections decreased after the pandemic. Of the facilities, 52.2% extended the clinic visit intervals; however, there was no significant difference in the actual number of injections given between before and after the pandemic. Although the number of injections temporarily decreased, Japanese ophthalmologists maintained the total annual number of anti-VEGF injections for DME during the pandemic.
AB - Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy for diabetic macular edema (DME) improves visual acuity. However, repeated injections during routine outpatient visits are required to maintain this effect. The recent sudden global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had a major impact on daily life, including medical care, such as the provision of VEGF therapy. We retrospectively investigated the relationship between the number of anti-VEGF injections for DME and the number of new COVID-19-positive patients at 23 centers in Japan. We also surveyed ophthalmologists regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anti-VEGF therapy. In the third and fourth waves of the pandemic, when the number of infected patients increased, the number of injections significantly decreased. In the first, third, and fourth waves, the number of injections increased significantly during the last month of each wave. Approximately 60.9% of ophthalmologists reported that the number of injections decreased after the pandemic. Of the facilities, 52.2% extended the clinic visit intervals; however, there was no significant difference in the actual number of injections given between before and after the pandemic. Although the number of injections temporarily decreased, Japanese ophthalmologists maintained the total annual number of anti-VEGF injections for DME during the pandemic.
KW - COVID-19
KW - anti-VEGF therapy
KW - diabetic macular edema
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142616462&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85142616462&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/jcm11226794
DO - 10.3390/jcm11226794
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85142616462
SN - 2077-0383
VL - 11
JO - Journal of Clinical Medicine
JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine
IS - 22
M1 - 6794
ER -