Six-year findings of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in the EVEREST II study: Japanese subgroup analysis

Yanagi Y 1 , Mori R 2 , Teo KYC 3 , Park KH 4 , Ngah NF 5 , Chen SJ 6 Show all authors , Ruamviboonsuk P 7 , Kondo N 8 , Lee WK 9 , Rajagopalan R 10 , Obata R 11 , Wong IYH 12 , Chee C 13 , Terasaki H 14 , Sekiryu T 15 , Chen SC 16 , Lai TYY 17 , Cheung G 3 , Honda S 18

Affiliations 

  • 1 Retina Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore Eye-ACP, Duke-NUS Medical School, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. yasuo.yanagi.tokyo@gmail.com
  • 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
  • 3 Retina Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore Eye-ACP, Duke-NUS Medical School, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  • 4 Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  • 5 Hospital Selayang, Batu caves, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 6 Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Yung University, 201 Shih-Pai Road, Taipei, 112, Taiwan
  • 7 Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Rangsit University, Rajavithi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand
  • 8 Miyake Eye Hospital Ophthalmology, Ozone, Kita-ku, Nagoya city, Japan
  • 9 Nune Eye Hospital, Seoul, South Korea
  • 10 Tan Tock Seng Hospital, National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Singapore, Singapore
  • 11 The University of Tokyo Hospital, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
  • 12 Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
  • 13 National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
  • 14 Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya-city, Aichi, Japan
  • 15 Fukushima Medical University hospital, Fukushima-city, Fukushima, Japan
  • 16 Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 17 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Hong Kong Eye Hospital, 147K Argyle Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong
  • 18 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
Jpn J Ophthalmol, 2025 Nov;69(6):894-901.
PMID: 40504425 DOI: 10.1007/s10384-025-01228-w

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate long-term outcomes for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) in Japanese patients in the EVEREST II study.

STUDY DESIGN: A multicenter, cross-sectional study of the long-term outcomes of a cohort of patients originally treated with ranibizumab alone (monotherapy group) or in combination with photodynamic therapy PDT (combination group) in the EVEREST II study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01846273).

METHODS: Ninety participants from the six-year EVEREST II follow-up: 20 Japanese and 70 non-Japanese were included. Long-term changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central subfield thickness (CST) were reported in the Japanese compared to non-Japanese participants. Number of injections, types of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents used, and cases with equal visits and injections, indicating fixed dosing or treat-and-extend (TAE) administration were investigated. Outcomes were also compared between those who had verteporfin PDT during the six-year period (n=14) and those who did not (n=6).

RESULTS: The Japanese and non-Japanese participants had similar baseline characteristics. The mean age for Japanese participants was 76±4.47 years, with 25% being women. BCVA improved from baseline to year 2 in both groups (P < 0.05). At six years, BCVA was maintained in the Japanese (67.2 ETDRS letters) but decreased in the non-Japanese participants (from 68.8 to 53.5 letters). The Japanese participants received more injections than the non-Japanese (12.5 vs. 7.57, P=0.017). Aflibercept was the most frequently used anti-VEGF agent, and the number of fixed dosing or TAE administration was higher in the Japanese participants. No significant differences were found in functional and anatomical outcomes between those who received PDT and those who did not (all P > 0.05). However, non-PDT participants had numerically worse BCVA at the final visit.

CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights positive long-term outcomes for Japanese PCV patients and underscores the need for further research to validate these findings in broader patient populations.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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