Reduced occurrence of severe visual impairment after introduction of anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in wet age-related macular degeneration - a population- and register-based study from northern Sweden.

Purpose: To study the occurrence of severe visual impairment (SVI) and treatment outcome at 12 months in patients treated for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by use of data from the Swedish Macula Register (SMR) and referrals to the regional low vision clinics in five northern counties.

Methods: Referrals to low vision clinics during 2005, 2009 and 2013 and treatment outcome at 12 months from the SMR database from 2008 until 2013 in patients >65 years of age in five northern counties were included in the survey.

Results: The rate of referral due to AMD was significantly reduced during the time period (-48%; p < 0.