62-year-old Li Hua (pseudonym) did not expect that after more than 20 fundus injections failed to restore his vision, he would still fly over most of China and come to Hainan to receive another injection.
Li Hua is a age-related macular degeneration patient, which is a fundus disease that occurs frequently in the elderly, mainly manifested by blurred vision and deformed vision. This is a more general description. When it falls back to life, the truth is much more cruel. In the past year, Li Hua has had a hard time seeing his wife’s face, even if they often sit next to each other. piece.
The situation would not have been so bad. In 2012, when Li Hua first noticed vision loss, he cautiously found Liu Xiaoling, director of fundus internal medicine at Wenzhou Medical University Affiliated Eye Optometry Hospital. At that time, Liu Xiaoling found a spot in Li Hua's macular fundus and treated him.
This treatment has managed Li Hua Guangming for 5 years. In 2017, Li Hua's eyesight plummeted again and he was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration. This time, Liu Xiaoling was a little anxious. She persuaded Li Hua to perform fundus injection therapy, which is what the clinic calls "glass intracavity injection". This method of treatment is very mature. By directly injecting anti-VEGF drugs into the vitreous of the eye, it can ensure that the drug reaches the lesion at the highest concentration, and the therapeutic effect is far superior to oral and intravenous infusion.
However,Each injection takes much more time than the few minutes of drug injection. Waiting in line for registration, making appointments, waiting in the hospital, and finally to injections, discharge...After a series of complicated procedures, not only patients find it troublesome, but they may also be reluctant to insist on injections after they get better. It also brings a lot of medical resources. pressure.
After three injections, Li Hua's vision improved significantly and returned to a close to normal 0.8. Then he disappeared from Liu Xiaoling's office. It was two years after the two met again, "There was no accident, recurrence, and the lesion was completely different from before. There was only one spot, but it became more common."
Liu Xiaoling advised Li Hua received injection treatment again, otherwise he would risk blindness. Out of fear, Li Hua accepted. But after one year of treatment, Li Hua wanted to give up. He told Liu Xiaoling that if she was blind, she would be blind, saying that she would not get any injections.
12 times and 2.9 times distance
1 When Li Hua gave up , his vision dropped to 0.2.
What is this concept? A person with a naked eye vision of 0.2, without the help of external force, can almost only see some vague color blocks. In their eyes, the world is like a thick mosaic, mottled.
△The picture comes from Vision China
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"At present, the spectrum of Chinese eye diseases has changed. The first is trachoma, then cataract, and now it is fundus disease." Professor Xu Xun, director of the National Center for Clinical Medical Research of Eye Diseases, told Good news at eight o'clock, fundus disease is not as well known to the public as cataracts and glaucoma, but it is the primary cause of irreversible blindness.
Take Li Hua’s age-related macular degeneration as an example. If it is not treated in time, the vision of most patients will gradually fade. For some extremely serious patients, they The only difference from a blind person is that he can still feel the light, but he has lost his basic ability to live.
"We often see patients like this in the clinic. He is very afraid of blindness, so he is willing to get the injection, but he can't insist on it. The situation is good when he gets the injection. Wait for him for a while If you don’t come, your eyesight will go down.”
Xu Xun told Eight-point Health News that the biggest difference between ocular fundus diseases and trachoma and cataract is that it emphasizes patient compliance. You can use eye drops for trachoma, and you can end it when you click it. Cataracts can be operated on and can recover well after finishing. However, fundus diseases do not work. Whether it is the complications of the fundus diseases of diabetes or age-related macular degeneration, continuous and long-lasting treatment is needed.
A patient with age-related macular degeneration needs at least 5 injections in the first year.However, according to the results of real-world clinical studies, the average number of injections per year for patients with age-related macular degeneration in China is 2.9, and the visual acuity is improved to 1.1 letters, which is far lower than the number of injections and visual benefits required for standard treatment.
If we take the perspective further, only 10% of the 3 million patients with fundus diseases who enter the hospital every year in China receive the correct treatment.
Less injections and better results
Span1span How to improve the patient’s ability to respond to the drug Subject. Now, the opportunity has come.
At the end of 2019, Xiaoling Liu learned that Novartis had developed a new generation of anti-VEGF drugs. Compared with previous drugs, the new drugs have smaller molecules, stronger penetration and better effects. . What makes her even more pleased is that this new drug is the only anti-VEGF drug approved in the world that can be injected every three months after the load period. In other words, the patient can get better results than the monthly injection in the past three months.
She found Li Hua for the first time and hoped that he could apply for a trial. Knowing that the frequency of injections had been reduced by two-thirds, Li Hua was also very excited. After discussing with his family, he submitted the application information. Before he was treated with the new drug, Li Hua’s vision fell to 0.12."It's equivalent to that on the eye chart, the letters that can be seen are only the top two lines." Liu Xiaoling said with a wry smile.
April 12, 2021, Hainan Boao Super Hospital , Li Hua finally received a new generation of anti-VEGF drugs for intravitreal injection. This new drug, called Beovu®, has been approved by regulatory agencies in more than 50 countries and regions around the world, of which 21 countries and regions have been on the market, but it is the first time that it has been used on Chinese patients in a Chinese hospital.
△April 12, 2021, Hainan Boao finally received a new generation of anti-VEGF drug injection in the vitreous cavity super hospital of Li Hua.
"He personally feels very good, he can walk forward very quickly when he comes out of the operating room. Of course, the improvement of vision will not be so fast, we estimate that one month later. See the effect." Liu Xiaoling told Jianwen at 8 o'clock that this time she and Li Hua made an agreement that they must be treated regularly and can't give up halfway.
At the same time, the Phase III clinical trial of Beovu® is also underway in China. Xu Xun revealed to Badian Jianwen that, compared with other similar drugs, the efficacy of Beovu® is good, and a longer interval will not affect the maintenance effect of the drug in the body.
Another foreseeable benefit is that,There are more than 40 million fundus patients in China, but the total number of doctors who can treat fundus diseases is only about 3,000. Under the premise that all cures are needed, a doctor has to deal with almost 10,000 patients. If the current monthly injection frequency can be reduced to once every three months, it will undoubtedly be a relief for the already stretched medical resources.
"If this drug is launched in China in the future, I will definitely choose it." Xu Xun said to Badian Jianwen.
Boao speed from surgery to new drugs, eye diseases
"In the past, patients with unlisted innovative drugs in China were basically unavailable." Director Liu Xiaoling mentioned that with the construction of the Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Travel Pilot Zone, more and more More patients can enjoy the most cutting-edge drugs and treatment technologies in the world without having to travel overseas for medical treatment.
Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pioneer Zone is the country’s only international medical tourism industrial park approved by the State Council in 2013. It enjoys medical treatment including accelerated medical device and drug import approval, clinical application and research Preferential policies such as technology access.
Since its establishment,The Lecheng Pioneer Zone has achieved remarkable results in the "three synchronizations" of medical technology, equipment, medicines and the international advanced level. According to Dai Xiaolong, deputy director of the Investment Promotion Department of the Lecheng Pioneer District Administration Bureau, at the beginning of the establishment of the Lecheng Pioneer District Administration Bureau, there were only 14 innovative medical devices available in the park. By the end of March 2021, the first case of 135 innovative medical devices has been achieved. use.
"In the past, if a drug approved in the United States came to China and then approved for legal use, I estimate that it would take seven or eight years or more, but here, the United States and the European Union have approved it, and it will Use it here immediately, and shorten the gap between us and developed countries in the field of eye health." Span1span Qu Jia, the general dean of the Eye Optometry Hospital Group of Wenzhou Medical University and the head of the ophthalmology team of Boao Super Hospital, is very excited. At present, relying on the specialty advantages of Professor Qu Jia's team and the "National Nine Articles" licensed medical policy in the Lecheng Pioneer Zone, the International Optometry and Ophthalmology Center of Boao Super Hospital has become a window to China for the use of global ophthalmology innovative technologies.
In April 2018, Professor Qu Jia’s team performed the Boston Type I artificial corneal transplantation at the Hainan Boao Super Hospital for a blind patient for more than 20 years. This is also the first legal introduction in China. Licensed Boston Type I artificial corneal transplant surgery. Later, the patient's vision returned to 0.6, and he opened a clinic to get a massage for the blind. Up to now, the hospital has completed more than 500 operations using licensed imported ophthalmic medical equipment, and it will soon be able to complete the target of 1,000 or even 2,000.
The introduction of Beovu® from Novartis is a breakthrough in the field of innovative drugs for fundus diseases by Boao Super Hospital. Qu Jia told 8:00 Jianwen that with the support of national policies, the International Optometry Center of Boao Super Hospital can truly be within the “international” scope.Search for more possibilities for patients with incurable diseases in need.
"In the future, we will introduce more international advanced ophthalmology equipment, so that domestic patients with eye diseases can get advanced treatment technology synchronized with the world without going abroad, and help achieve the strategic goal of "Healthy China". ”_Span3span
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