Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40298749›Full record

ArticleArquivos brasileiros de oftalmologia2025

Real-world safety and efficacy of Anti-VEGF treatment in Brazil.

Mario Cesar Bulla, Daniel Lavinsky

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Arquivos brasileiros de oftalmologia, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Mario Cesar BullaClínica Bulla, São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil.ORCID 0009-0006-2573-0829
Daniel LavinskyDepartamento de Oftalmologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0001-7197-1259

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis retrospective study evaluated the safety and efficacy of real-world antiangiogenic therapy for ocular conditions in the private healthcare sector in southern Brazil.

methodsMedical records from patients who underwent intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections over the past 12 years were reviewed retrospectively. Data collection included the primary diagnoses, drugs administered, injection techniques, adverse effects, and treatment efficacy. Efficacy was assessed by comparing preand posttreatment visual acuity and central subfield thickness in eyes with followup exceeding 2 years.

resultsA total of 1,024 patients, 1,310 treated eyes, and 11,377 injections were analyzed. The injections included aflibercept (6,833), ranibizumab (3,692), bevacizumab (843), and brolucizumab (9), administered either bilaterally (3,696) or unilaterally (7,681). The most common diagnoses were diabetic macular edema, exudative age-related macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion related macular edema, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. No endophthalmitis cases were reported. Vitritis with transient visual acuity loss occurred in two cases following aflibercept injections. One retinal detachment case was successfully treated with vitrectomy. The median number of injections per patient was 6 (IQR [interquartile range], 3-13). Among 445 eyes from 328 patients with followup over 2 years (median, 4.05 years; IQR, 2.89-6.29), there was a significant improvement in best-corrected visual acuity from 0.3 to 0.4 (Snellen) (p<0.001) and a reduction in central subfield thickness from 361 to 267 microns (p<0.001). CST comparisons included patients with age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion related macular edema.

conclusionThis real-world study, the largest of its kind in Brazil, confirms the safety and efficacy of antiangiogenic therapies in the southern Brazilian private healthcare system. The findings highlight a low incidence of severe adverse events and outcomes consistent with global studies, supporting the ongoing use of antiangiogenic agents as effective and well-tolerated treatments for various ocular conditions in developing countries.

Indexed as

Angiogenesis InhibitorsVascular Endothelial Growth Factor AAgedBevacizumabBrazilDiabetic RetinopathyFemaleHumansIntravitreal InjectionsMacular DegenerationMacular EdemaMaleMiddle AgedRanibizumabReceptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth FactorRecombinant Fusion ProteinsafliberceptAngiogenesis InhibitorsBevacizumabRanibizumabReceptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth FactorRecombinant Fusion ProteinsVascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Identifiers

PMID40298749
PMCPMC12997599

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.