Comparative study of intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin) versus ranibizumab (Lucentis) in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

AIMS

To compare the safety and efficacy of 2 anti-vascular-endothelial-growth-factor agents - bevacizumab (Avastin) versus ranibizumab (Lucentis) - in the treatment of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of patients who received intravitreal injections of bevacizumab or ranibizumab for neovascular AMD. Primary outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central foveal thickness (CFT) assessed by Spectral Domain scanning laser ophthalmoscope-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). A secondary outcome measure was the report of any adverse events in the 2 groups.

RESULTS

The number of injections in the bevacizumab group was 184 (average of 4.7 per eye) compared to 187 in the ranibizumab group (average of 5.5 per eye). The mean logMAR equivalent of BCVA at 1 month after the injection improved by 0.18 in the bevacizumab group (p = 0.009) and by 0.13 in the ranibizumab group (p = 0.004). The average SD-OCT CFT decreased from 325 + or - 72 to 300 + or - 69 microm in the bevacizumab group (p = 0.016) and from 307 + or - 57 to 289 + or - 56 microm in the ranibizumab group (p = 0.017). In the bevacizumab group, there was 1 event of lower extremity pain (0.54%) and 1 event of increased arterial blood pressure (0.54%). In the ranibizumab group, there were 2 events of transiently increased intraocular pressure (1.1%) and 1 event (0.53%) of intraocular inflammation following injection.

CONCLUSIONS

Bevacizumab and ranibizumab treatments resulted in similar gains in visual acuity and reduction in macular thickness, documented each month following injection. Intravitreal bevacizumab appears to be as safe and effective as intravitreal ranibizumab in the treatment of exudative AMD.