Eyes that Do Not Meet the Eligibility Criteria of Clinical Trials on Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Proportion of the Real-World Patient Population and Reasons for Exclusion

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the proportion of eyes that do not meet the eligibility criteria of clinical trials on neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the reasons for exclusion. METHODS: This retrospective, observational study included 512 eyes of 463 patients diagnosed with treatment-naïve neovascular AMD. The proportion of eyes that did not meet the eligibility criteria of the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Trap-Eye: Investigation of Efficacy and Safety in Wet AMD (VIEW) studies were evaluated. The two most common reasons for exclusion were also evaluated in each subtype of neovascular AMD (typical neovascular AMD, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), and type 3 neovascularization). RESULTS: Among the 512 eyes, 229 (44.7%) did not meet the eligibility criteria. In all the included eyes, the most common reasons for exclusion were good or poor visual acuity (169 eyes, 33.0%), followed by the presence of subretinal hemorrhage (47 eyes, 9.5%). Moreover, good or poor visual acuity was the most common reason for exclusion in all three subtypes of neovascular AMD. The second most common reason was a fovea-involving scar or fibrosis in typical neovascular AMD, subretinal hemorrhage in PCV, and other vascular diseases affecting the retina in type 3 neovascularization. CONCLUSIONS: Among the included cases, 44.7% did not meet the eligibility criteria for VIEW study, suggesting that the conclusion derived from clinical trials may not directly reflect the real-world outcomes. Additionally, the reasons for ineligibility differed among the different subtypes of neovascular AMD.