The question: If my patient has wet AMD in one eye, would prophylactic intravitreal injections in the other eye prevent wet AMD from developing?
Why did they study this?
Previous studies have shown that when a patient has wet AMD in one eye, the risk of developing wet AMD in the fellow eye is around 20-30%. So, a group of researchers wondered, can we decrease that risk if we give prophylactic Eylea in the fellow eye?
The PRO-CON study (PROphylaxis against CONversion to new-vascular age-related macular degeneration in high-risk eyes) was designed to answer this question. They studied 128 patients with wet AMD in one eye. Half of them were given Eylea every 3 months in the fellow eye without wet AMD, the other half received a sham.
What did they find?
Unfortunately, they found no difference in the rate of conversion to wet AMD in the fellow eye at the one year follow-up. However, they plan to follow for another year to see if there is more benefit realized at the two year mark. (via)
