Abstract
Purpose:
To compare the efficacy of ranibizumab and aflibercept for occult choroidal neovascularization secondary to Japanese exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Methods:
A retrospective case series. Sixty-nine eyes of 64 treatment naive Japanese patients with occult choroidal neovascularization secondary to exudative AMD were evaluated. The patients who had large lesion of choroidal neovascularization (>3.0 disc area) on fluorescein angiography and poor visual acuity (logMAR VA < 1) were excluded. Three consecutive monthly intravitreal injections as a loading dose were performed with ranibizumab (IVR) in 42 eyes (IVR group) and with aflibercept in 17 eyes (.IVA group) Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the characteristics of optical coherence tomography (OCT) were assessed at baseline and month 3.
Results:
BCVA, central foveal thickness (CFT), the incidence of serous retinal detachment (SRD) were not different between two groups at baseline and at month 3. The increment of BCVA in the eyes treated with IVR (-0.040) during 3 months was greater than that in the eyes treated with IVA (0.045). Whereas central choroidal thickness (CCT) was not different between two groups at baseline, it became thinner in the eyes treated with IVA than that in the eyes treated with IVR (P=0.03) at month 3.
Conclusions:
Visual acuity in the eyes with occult neovascularization of treatment naïve Japanese patients may improve more rapidly by IVR than by IVA during the induction phase. Choroidal circulation may be involved in visual improvement after anti-VEGF therapy.
Keywords: 412 age-related macular degeneration •
688 retina