Imaging features of retinal vasculitis and/or retinal vascular occlusion following brolucizumab treatment in the post-marketing setting

PurposeThe aim of this analysis was to characterize the spectrum of inflammatory changes arising from brolucizumab use in routine clinical practice.DesignRetrospective analysis of fluorescein angiography (FA), fundus photography (FP) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) images taken at the time of adverse event.SubjectsBrolucizumab-treated patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) with retinal vasculitis (RV) and/or retinal vascular occlusion (RO) reported to Novartis Patient Safety between February 2020 and January 2021.MethodsOcular images were reviewed by an external reading centre using pre-defined grading lists for FA, FP and OCT.Main outcome measuresClassification of images, the most common imaging features of RV and/or RO by each imaging modality and the anatomical location of the adverse event in relation to the macula.ResultsGradable images (n=475; 222 eyes; 198 patients) were classified as RV only (n=72); RO only (n=9), RV+RO (n=63); posterior segment intraocular inflammation (n=31); or none by imaging (n=47). Of the 144 eyes with RV and/or RO, the most common imaging features were vascular leakage on FA, perivascular sheathing on FP and hyperreflective dots in the vitreous on OCT. RO was mainly branched and arterial, affecting multiple vessels.ConclusionsAlthough no distinct inflammatory phenotype pathognomonic to brolucizumab-related inflammation was identified, this study increases our understanding of the spectrum of posterior segment inflammatory changes that may occur in brolucizumab-treated nAMD patients, highlighting the potential value of wide-field retinal imaging and angiography to detect these inflammatory adverse events.