Administering aflibercept-jbvf after three monthly bevacizumab injections was temporally associated with a statistically significant but modest very early reduction in central subfield thickness (CST) at 4 weeks in a heterogeneous cohort of exudative macular diseases, with no significant BCVA change.
Central subfield thickness (CST) decreased significantly 4 weeks after switching from bevacizumab to aflibercept-jbvf.
The CST reduction remained statistically significant after adjusting for within-patient intereye correlation.
Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) did not change significantly at 4 weeks after the switch.
The BCVA change was also not significant after GEE adjustment for intereye correlation.
The cohort was heterogeneous, composed mainly of diabetic macular edema, followed by macular neovascularization and retinal vein occlusion.
No serious adverse events were observed after the switch.
The study design limits causal attribution of the anatomical change to aflibercept-jbvf and any inference about durability.
This study followed 53 eyes of 41 patients with fluid-related retinal conditions (mostly diabetic macular edema, plus age-related macular degeneration and retinal vein occlusion). All had received three monthly bevacizumab eye injections and were then switched to a single injection of aflibercept-jbvf. Researchers compared retinal thickness and vision just before the switch and four weeks later. Retinal thickness at the center of the macula dropped modestly, by about 23 micrometers on average, and this held up in an analysis that accounted for both eyes of the same patient being included. Vision did not change significantly; there was a small trend toward improvement that did not reach statistical significance. No serious side effects were seen. This research suggests a switch may be associated with a small short-term reduction in retinal swelling, but the study cannot show that aflibercept-jbvf caused it. There was no comparison group, the conditions studied differ biologically, and follow-up was only four weeks, so the results say nothing about how long the effect lasts or about long-term treatment needs. The change could partly reflect a delayed response to earlier bevacizumab or natural fluctuation in retinal thickness.
Horozoglu Ceran T, Beyatli S, Dogan M. (2026). Early outcomes of switching from bevacizumab to aflibercept-jbvf in exudative macular diseases: a real-world study.. BMC ophthalmology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12886-026-05491-4