Outcomes in Patients Resuming Intravitreal Anti-VEGF Therapy Following Treatment Delay during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcomes of delay in care secondary to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in patients requiring intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed, and subjects were divided into 1) a Study Group of patients who experienced a treatment delay ≥ 6 weeks from intended follow up during the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed treatment with ≥ 2 anti-VEGF injections over 6 months following treatment delay, and 2) a Control Group of patients who received regular care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: There were 234 subjects analyzed. The mean treatment delay from intended follow up in the Study Group was 11.8 (+/- 4.0) weeks. Visual acuity and central macular thickness (CMT) worsened from baseline to 6 months after resuming anti-VEGF therapy in the Study Group (p<0.0001 and p=0.001, respectively). Visual acuity and CMT were better in the Control Group compared to the Study Group at the end of the 6-month study period (p<0.0001 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment delay in subjects undergoing anti-VEGF therapy for retina disease during the COVID-19 pandemic had worse visual and anatomic outcomes despite reinitiating treatment over 6 months compared to a control group, suggesting irreversibility and permanence of outcomes.