Nd:YAG capsulotomy is not a risk factor for retinal detachment after phacoemulsification cataract surgery.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the cumulative incidence and risk factors of pseudophakic retinal detachment (PRD) following phacoemulsification cataract surgery. METHODS: Cataract surgeries performed between the years 2007 and 2016 at the Ophthalmology Unit of Kymenlaakso Central Hospital, Kotka, Finland, were included. The cumulative incidence of PRD was estimated through Kaplan-Meier analysis. Patient mortality was incorporated as one of the censoring events. Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate potential risk factors, including age, gender, intraocular lens (IOL) power and previous neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser capsulotomy. RESULTS: A total of 17 688 eyes of 12 003 patients were included. The mean patient age at surgery was 75.2 ± 9.1 years with 63.5% females (n = 11 228). During the mean follow-up time of 4.3 ± 2.7 years, 83 laterality-matched PRDs were registered (incidence 0.11% per year). Univariate analyses showed that age (HR 0.93; 95% CI 0.92-0.95), male gender (HR 3.99; 95% CI 2.52-6.33) and IOL power (HR 0.86; 95% CI 0.83-0.90) were significantly associated with PRD (p < 0.001 for all) and remained significant in a multivariate analysis. Neither univariate (HR 1.45; 95% CI 0.82-2.54, p = 0.201) nor multivariate (HR 1.03; 95%CI 0.57-1.88, p = 0.919) analyses showed any association between Nd:YAG capsulotomy and PRD. CONCLUSIONS: Male gender, low IOL power and younger age were confirmed as risk factors for PRD after phacoemulsification surgery. Real-world evidence suggests that Nd:YAG capsulotomy does not increase the risk for PRD.

Correlation between the rate of intravitreal injections, use of aflibercept as a second-line treatment and visual impairment for wet AMD in Finland.

PURPOSE: To correlate the rate of intravitreal anti-VEGF injections and the use of aflibercept as a second-line treatment with visual impairment throughout Finland. METHODS: Information related to anti-VEGF treatment, proportions of bevacizumab and aflibercept and new visual impairments due to wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was gathered from 5 university hospitals and 14 central hospital districts between 2015 and 2017 covering 232 568 injections and 1172 visual impairments. RESULTS: Between 2015 and 2017, the number of annual total anti-VEGF injections increased from 60 412 to 93 589 (+24.5% annual change) and of aflibercept injections from 8299 to 20 833 (+58.7% annual change). The 3-year average for total anti-VEGF injections ranged from 9.6 to 21.1 (median 13.3) per 1000 citizens between hospital districts and for aflibercept injections from 0.8 to 4.0 (median 1.9). According to the primary protocol for wet AMD, during 2015-2017, the number of total anti-VEGF injections increased from 10.9 to 15.2 per 1000 citizens with the pro re nata (PRN) protocol and from 11.3 to 18.9 with the treat-and-extend regimen (TER). The 3-year average of aflibercept injections as a second-line treatment, but not the total number of anti-VEGF or bevacizumab injections, inversely correlated with new onset visual impairments (R = -0.505, P = 0.027) in the hospital districts. The number of visual impairments did not differ between the hospital districts according to the PRN and TER protocols (1.23 ± 0.41 and 1.14 ± 0.67, respectively, per 1000 citizens aged ≥64 years, P = 0.713). CONCLUSION: These results emphasize that the use of aflibercept injections as a second-line treatment may decrease new onset visual impairments.