TriPla Regimen: A new treatment approach for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration in the COVID-19 'era'

摘要

In the last months, a rapidly increasing number of people have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Due to the risk of cross-infections, the number of visits and injections was dramatically reduced in the last months, and the time between visits has been rescheduled from every 15 to 45 min, significantly impairing the total number of available visits. Although continuity of care has been allowed, a series of measures to diminish the risk of contamination need to be adopted until the end of this pandemic outbreak, which may persist until the development of an effective vaccine. For these reasons, we have introduced a new treatment regimen that is aimed at reducing the number of in-person visits and achieving continuity of treatment. This regimen is named "Triple and Plan" (TriPla). The main advantage of the TriPla regimen is to reduce the number of visits of patients in comparison to the pro re nata and treat and extend regimen. Using the TriPla regimen, the risk of contamination would be reduced. Furthermore, by reducing the number of scheduled visits, physicians could guarantee an adequate number of examinations for each patient, lengthening the interval between visits, and reducing the risk of cross-infections.