Real-World Treatment Patterns and Ocular Morbidity in Patients with Uveitic Macular Edema (UME) Secondary to Non-Infectious Uveitis (NIU) in the United States (US)
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Yes
Purpose
To evaluate treatment patterns in NIU patients and characterize the unmet need for new UME therapies.
Methods
Electronic records of patients treated by US retina specialists from the Vestrum Health® database were analyzed. NIU patients ≥18 years old with ≥2 separate NIU diagnoses within 120 days of each other and ≥1 follow-up visit between 2017–2024 were included. UME was identified by International Classification of Diseases code and electronic health record documentation.
Results
Among 35,874 NIU eyes, 46% had a UME diagnosis. In year 1, NIU and UME eyes had about 1 visit every 2 months per eye (median 17–19 months of follow-up). Topical steroids, intravitreal (IVT) Ozurdex, and subtenon triamcinolone were the most common treatments in both cohorts. Combined treatments were used as first-line therapy in 21% of NIU and 24% of UME eyes. At baseline (BL), 63% of UME eyes were pseudophakic, yet 13% of phakic eyes underwent cataract surgery within 1 year. Glaucoma was prevalent at BL in both NIU (21%) and UME eyes (28%), with 13% of UME eyes developing glaucoma by year 1. Visual acuity losses were observed: 20% and 21% of NIU and UME eyes, respectively, lost ≥5 letters; 9% and 10% lost ≥15 letters.
Conclusion
In the US, locally administered corticosteroids (CS) remain the standard of care for NIU-UME, but associated side effects limit long-term use and increase morbidity. The absence of non-CS local IVT therapies highlights an unmet need for effective, safer alternatives. Two global, randomized, controlled, identical, phase 3 trials are investigating vamikibart, an IVT anti-interleukin-6 monoclonal antibody, in UME (NCT05642312, NCT05642325).