IVAN Follow Up

Five year observational follow-up of the IVAN trial cohort: a study of function and morphology

IVAN Follow-Up will follow up participants in the Inhibition of VEGF in Age-related choroidal Neovascularisation (IVAN) trial to answer additional research questions of major importance to the UK National Health Service (NHS) about the management of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the longer term.

Emerging information suggests that despite continuing treatment with anti-VEGF drugs for two years or longer many patients will lose vision. It appears that anti-VEGF drugs do not prevent scarring and if used for many years, may actually promote thinning of the retina. However few studies have investigated these effects over many years of treatment.

20 of the original IVAN investigating sites have invited a total of 411 participants to a one-off research visit to have ophthalmic images taken, to obtain visual acuities (standard and low luminance) and to complete a questionnaire. IVAN Follow Up will also collect retrospective information about how well participants are seeing, whether they are still being reviewed and treated in the NHS, whether the second eye has needed treatment, and how their current level of vision affects their quality of life. All participant images will be uploaded to the CARF grading centre in Belfast. Retrospective information and images will also be collected on a further 126 participants who have died since IVAN.

Current status: The final report was submitted to the funders (NIHR HTA) in April 2018. The archive process will begin at all the sites. Our aim is to publish several manuscripts documenting the findings.

The results can be viewed on the EU Clinical Trials register (EudraCT).

NIHR Award Information

This project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research Heath Technology Assessment Programme, project number 07/36/501.

Contact Information

Chief Investigator: Professor Usha Chakravarthy, Centre for Vision and Vascular Science, Queen’s University Belfast

E-mail: ivan-trial@bristol.ac.uk