Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor medications during pregnancy: current perspective

Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections in pregnancy and breastfeeding: a case series and systematic review of the literature

INTRODUCTION

Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents may occasionally need to be considered for sight-threatening macular pathology in pregnant and breastfeeding women. This is controversial due to the dearth of data on systemic side effects for mother and child. We aimed to expand the evidence base to inform management.

METHODS

Retrospective case series of pregnant and breastfeeding women treated with intravitreal anti-VEGF injections at Oxford Eye Hospital between January 2015 and December 2022. In addition, we conducted a systematic review and combined eligible cases in a narrative synthesis.

RESULTS

We treated six pregnant women with anti-VEGF for diabetic macular oedema(DMO) (n = 5) or choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) (n = 1). Four received ranibizumab whilst two (not known to be pregnant) received aflibercept. Patients known to be pregnant underwent counselling by an obstetric physician. Five pregnancies resulted in live births. Combining our cases with those previously published, treatment of 41 pregnant women (42 pregnancies) are reported. Indications for treatment included CNV (n = 28/41,68%), DMO (n = 7/41,17%) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (n = 6/41,15%). Bevacizumab (n = 22/41,54%) and ranibizumab (n = 17/41,41%) were given more frequently than aflibercept (n = 2/41,5%). Many (n = 16/41,40%) were unaware of their pregnancy when treated. Most pregnancies resulted in live births (n = 34/42,81%). First trimester miscarriages (n = 5/42,12%) and stillbirths (n = 3/42,7%) mostly occurred in women with significant risk factors.

CONCLUSION

Intravitreal anti-VEGF injections may not necessarily compromise obstetric outcomes, although clear associations cannot be drawn due to small numbers and confounders from high rates of first trimester miscarriages in general and inherently high-risk pregnancies. It may be worth considering routinely investigating pregnancy and breastfeeding status in women of childbearing age prior to each injection, as part of anti-VEGF treatment protocols.

Recommendations for diabetic macular edema management by retina specialists and large language model-based artificial intelligence platforms

PURPOSE

To study the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in developing diabetic macular edema (DME) management recommendations by creating and comparing responses to clinicians in hypothetical AI-generated case scenarios. The study also examined whether its joint recommendations followed national DME management guidelines.

METHODS

The AI hypothetically generated 50 ocular case scenarios from 25 patients using keywords like age, gender, type, duration and control of diabetes, visual acuity, lens status, retinopathy stage, coexisting ocular and systemic co-morbidities, and DME-related retinal imaging findings. For DME and ocular co-morbidity management, we calculated inter-rater agreements (kappa analysis) separately for clinician responses, AI-platforms, and the "majority clinician response" (the maximum number of identical clinician responses) and "majority AI-platform" (the maximum number of identical AI responses). Treatment recommendations for various situations were compared to the Indian national guidelines.

RESULTS

For DME management, clinicians (ĸ=0.6), AI platforms (ĸ=0.58), and the 'majority clinician response' and 'majority AI response' (ĸ=0.69) had moderate to substantial inter-rate agreement. The study showed fair to substantial agreement for ocular co-morbidity management between clinicians (ĸ=0.8), AI platforms (ĸ=0.36), and the 'majority clinician response' and 'majority AI response' (ĸ=0.49). Many of the current study's recommendations and national clinical guidelines agreed and disagreed. When treating center-involving DME with very good visual acuity, lattice degeneration, renal disease, anaemia, and a recent history of cardiovascular disease, there were clear disagreements.

CONCLUSION

For the first time, this study recommends DME management using large language model-based generative AI. The study's findings could guide in revising the global DME management guidelines.

From randomised controlled trials to real-world data: Clinical evidence to guide management of diabetic macular oedema

Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) are generally considered the gold-standard for providing scientific evidence for treatments' effectiveness and safety but their findings may not always be generalisable to the broader population treated in routine clinical practice. RCTs include highly selected patient populations that fit specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Although they may have a lower level of certainty than RCTs on the evidence hierarchy, real-world data (RWD), such as observational studies, registries and databases, provide real-world evidence (RWE) that can complement RCTs. For example, RWE may help satisfy requirements for a new indication of an already approved drug and help us better understand long-term treatment effectiveness, safety and patterns of use in clinical practice. Many countries have set up registries, observational studies and databases containing information on patients with retinal diseases, such as diabetic macular oedema (DMO). These DMO RWD have produced significant clinical evidence in the past decade that has changed the management of DMO. RWD and medico-administrative databases are a useful resource to identify low frequency safety signals. They often have long-term follow-up with a large number of patients and minimal exclusion criteria. We will discuss improvements in healthcare information exchange technologies, such as blockchain technology and FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), which will connect and extend databases already available. These registries can be linked with existing or emerging retinal imaging modalities using artificial intelligence to aid diagnosis, treatment decisions and provide prognostic information. The results of RCTs and RWE are combined to provide evidence-based guidelines.

Idiopathic Choroidal Neovascularization in Pregnancy: A Case Report

Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is the abnormal growth of vessels from the choroidal vasculature to the neurosensory retina through the Bruch's membrane and is usually associated with "wet" age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Other causes include myopia, traumatic rupture of the choroid, multifocal choroiditis, and histoplasmosis. CNV is a major cause of visual loss and treatment is aimed at halting progression and stabilizing vision. Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (IVT anti-VEGF) injection is the treatment of choice for CNV regardless of etiology. However, its use in pregnancy is debatable, due to its mechanism of action and lack of evidence of safety in pregnancy. Herein, we report a 27-year-old pregnant female, who complained of blurred and decreased vision in her left eye for two weeks. On examination, her unaided vision was 6/6 in her right eye and 6/18 partial in her left eye with no further improvement. Based on history, examination, and investigations she was diagnosed as a case of idiopathic CNV in pregnancy, being only the sixth reported case worldwide. Citing the risk of possible fetal adverse effects, the patient did not consent to the treatment despite extensive counseling. She was advised to follow up regularly and to receive IVT anti-VEGF injections immediately after delivery. A literature review was therefore undertaken to broaden our understanding of the treatment protocols and outcomes of using IVT anti-VEGF in pregnancy. This helped us to develop an understanding of the possible relative safety of such a treatment when individually tailored with a multi-disciplinary approach.

Potential safety signal of pregnancy loss with vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor intraocular injection: A disproportionality analysis using the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System

Objectives: Intraocular administration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors may be associated with pregnancy loss. However, little is known about intraocular anti-VEGF therapy during pregnancy. Here, we conducted a pharmacovigilance study using a spontaneous reporting database to evaluate the relationship between intraocular VEGF inhibitors and pregnancy loss. Methods: We used the JAPIC AERS database which is composed of the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) dataset preprocessed by the Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center (JAPIC) to investigate the VEGF inhibitors ranibizumab, aflibercept, and bevacizumab. Disproportionality analyses were conducted for VEGF inhibitors and pregnancy loss. The lower limit of the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the reporting odds ratio (ROR) > 1 and a minimum of three reported cases of pregnancy loss were the detection criteria used in the current study. Results: In the FAERS, 19 pregnancy loss cases were reported for ranibizumab with an ROR of 4.44 (95% CI: 2.42-8.16), 6 for intraocular bevacizumab with an ROR of 32.25 (95% CI: 3.88-267.9), and 4 for intraocular aflibercept with an ROR of 5.37 (95% CI: 1.34-21.49). All these drugs met the detection criteria. Conclusion: Potential safety signals of pregnancy loss were obtained from intraocular administration of VEGF inhibitors during pregnancy. These signals should be validated using a causal design study.

Association between Obstetric Complications and Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Agents or Intravitreal Corticosteroids

This nationwide population-based cohort study aimed to describe the use of intravitreal injections (IVTs) of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents and corticosteroids in pregnant women in France and to report on the incidence of obstetric and neonatal complications. All pregnant women in France who received any anti-VEGF or corticosteroid IVT during pregnancy or in the month preceding pregnancy from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2018 were identified in the national medico-administrative databases. Between 2009 and 2018, there were 5,672,921 IVTs performed in France. Among these IVTs, 228 anti-VEGF or corticosteroid IVTs were administered to 139 women during their pregnancy or in the month preceding their pregnancy. Spontaneous abortion or the medical termination of pregnancy occurred in 10 women (16.1%) who received anti-VEGF agents and in one (3.1%) of the women who received corticosteroids (p = 0.09). This is the first national cohort study of pregnant women treated with anti-VEGF or corticosteroid IVTs. We found a high incidence of obstetric complications in pregnant women treated with anti-VEGF or corticosteroid IVTs but could not demonstrate a statistically significant association between the intravitreal agents and these complications. These agents should continue to be used with great caution in pregnant women.

Idiopathic combined retinal vessels occlusion in a pregnant woman: a case report

Background

Ocular vascular occlusion is an extremely rare event, especially in the young population. This diagnosis is always associated with active systemic diseases in young adults and needs thrombophilia workup. Nevertheless, we present the case of a pregnant woman suffering from idiopathic combined central retinal vein and cilioretinal artery occlusion.

Case presentation

A 36-year-old pregnant Iranian woman at the 36th week of her second pregnancy complained of subacute unilateral painless decreased vision of her left eye. She had experienced a transient vision loss that lasted several minutes, but attacks gradually became more frequent and finally persistent over a several-day period. Finally combined central retinal vein and cilioretinal artery occlusion was established. Her visual acuity improved to 4/10 in a month without any ocular intervention except for a short duration of prophylactic dose enoxaparin, and the acuity reached 8/10 without any complications in the third month follow-up visit. At 1 year follow-up, the visual acuity had not changed and no macular edema was seen.

Conclusions

Ocular vascular occlusion is extremely rare among young adults, and even rarer among pregnant women. According to this, any suspected retinal vascular event in this population should raise suspicion for underlying diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, migraine, preeclampsia syndrome, and thrombophilia. However, as seen in this presented case, idiopathic ocular vascular occlusion events can occur also.

Prevention of vision-threatening complications in diabetic retinopathy: two perspectives based on results from the DRCR Retina Network Protocol W and the Regeneron-sponsored PANORAMA

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The use of intravitreous antivascular endothelial growth factor to prevent center-involved diabetic macular edema (CI-DME) with vision loss and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) has been investigated and recently reported in two randomized clinical trials. Although both trials showed substantial superiority of aflibercept at preventing the development of vision-threatening complications (VTCs) of CI-DME or PDR compared with sham at 1 or 2 years, without a concomitant benefit in visual acuity outcomes, the interpretation of the results and its application to clinical practice resulted in two disparate opinions. In this review, we discuss these two trials including their similarities and differences, other relevant studies, and considerations regarding the interpretation and the application of these results into clinical practice.

RECENT FINDINGS

The Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Retina Network Protocol W and the PANORAMA study demonstrated significantly lower probabilities of developing CI-DME or PDR at 2 years with intravitreous aflibercept compared with sham in eyes with moderate (Protocol W) or moderately severe (PANORAMA) to severe non-PDR (NPDR). However, visual acuity outcomes were not different.

SUMMARY

Although intravitreous aflibercept injections reduce the risk of VTCs in eyes with moderate-to-severe NPDR, the absence of visual acuity benefits supports the need for four-year results.

Intravitreal Conbercept for Idiopathic Choroidal Neovascularization in Nursing Women

Purpose: To report the clinical course and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in breast milk among three nursing women diagnosed with idiopathic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) before and after intravitreal injection of conbercept. Methods: This was an observational case series. The main outcomes and measures included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), anatomical features using optical coherence tomography, and breast milk concentrations of VEGF before and after the intravitreal injection of conbercept. Results: BCVA was increased, and no ocular or systemic safety problems were observed in any of the three patients during the follow-up period. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure VEGF concentrations in the breast milk samples. Samples were collected 1 day before and 1, 7, and 30 days after the first intravitreal injection of conbercept. After conbercept injection, VEGF levels in breast milk were slightly decreased and did not change significantly in the following week; levels recovered fully by 30 days post-treatment. Conclusions: Intravitreal injection of conbercept shows favorable effectiveness and safety in the treatment of idiopathic CNV in nursing women and does not result in a significant reduction in VEGF in human breast milk.