%0 Journal Article
%T Effect of intravitreal injections due to neovascular age-related macular degeneration on retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and minimum rim width: a cross sectional study.
%A Boltz A
%A Spöttl T
%A Huf W
%A Weingessel B
%A Vécsei-Marlovits VP
%J BMC Ophthalmol
%V 24
%N 1
%D 2024 Apr 23
%M 38654214
%F 2.086
%R 10.1186/s12886-024-03453-2
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>The present study tested the hypothesis that repeated anti-VEGF injections are associated with reduced retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and minimum rim width (MRW) of the optic nerve head.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>Sixty-six patients with a history of intravitreal injections due to neovascular age-related macular degeneration were included. RNFL and MRW were measured using optical coherence tomography (Spectralis OCT, Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany).<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>Mean global RNFL was 90.62 μm and both RNFL as well as MRW significantly decreased with advanced age (p = 0.005 and p = 0.019, respectively). Correlating for the number of injections, no significant impact on RNFL was found globally (p = 0.642) or in any of the sectors. In contrast, however, global MRW was significantly reduced with increasing numbers of intravitreal injections (p = 0.012). The same holds true when adjusted for the confounding factor age (RNFL p = 0.566 and MRW p = 0.023).<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Our study shows that repeated intravitreal injections due to choroidal neovascularization seem to have a deleterious effect on MRW but not on RNFL. This suggests that MRW is a more sensitive marker than RNFL for evaluating the effect of frequent intravitreal injections on the optic nerve head since it seems to be the first structure affected.