Abstract
Purpose: :
Clinical trials have demonstrated ranibizumab efficiency for exsudative AMD treatment, with visual acuity stabilization in 90 to 95% of cases. Our aim was to evaluate ranibizumab efficiency on everyday patients.
Methods: :
One hundred first consecutive cases with choroidal neovascularization treated by intravitreal ranibizumab injections have been included. Clinical examination at baseline included visual acuity measurement, biomicroscopy, red-free frames, fluorescein and infracyanine green angiographies, optical coherence tomography. Every 4 weeks, acuity visual measurement, biomicroscopy and optical coherence tomography were performed. Fluorescein angiography was performed every 3 months. All eyes have recieved 2 intravitreal injections then they have been treated or observed, depending on the controls.
Results: :
Mean age was 78 years. Mean intravitreal injections number was 3.7 per eye. Mean follow-up was 7 months, mean baseline visual acuity was 20/95 and final was 20/71, mean baseline central macular thickness was 333 µm and final 236 µm. Two sub-groups of eyes were analysed ; 75 eyes have recieved ranibizumab on second line and 25 eyes on first line. On second line, mean baseline visual acuity was 20/95 and final was 20/77 ; mean baseline central macular thickness was 327 µm and final was 225 µm. On first line, mean baseline visual acuity was 20/87 µm and final was 20/63 ; mean baseline central macular thickness was 322 µm and final was 258 µm.
Conclusions: :
Ranibizumab therapy was associated with improvements in mean visual acuity and central macular thickness for all eyes, but were more important in naive patients treated on first line. Because of the frequency of controls and injections, using ranibizumab therapy implies a new organization. However, its efficiency on real live justifies these efforts.
Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • choroid: neovascularization • vascular endothelial growth factor