Ranibizumab for retinal angiomatous proliferation in age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE

To assess the 1-year functional outcome and to evaluate the morphological changes after intravitreal injections of ranibizumab in eyes affected with retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

METHODS

A prospective, non-randomized, interventional study was conducted on 26 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed RAP. All eyes were treatment naive and were randomized to receive intravitreal injections of ranibizumab for a 12-month period. After the first three monthly injections, re-treatment was performed in case of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) loss of at least five letters associated with fluid within the macula, central macular thickness (CMT) increase of at least 100 microm, and/or persistence of fluid within the macula as evaluated by optical coherence tomography, new onset macular haemorrhages, persistence of leakage from the lesions on fluorescein angiography.

RESULTS

All patients completed the 12-month follow-up: 25 of the 29 treated eyes (86.2%) were stabilized, with a loss of less than 15 letters. Nineteen eyes (65.5%) maintained or improved their BCVA, and three eyes (10.3%) gained three lines or more. Overall, mean BCVA remained stable at the 12-month follow-up (-0.07 letters; P>0.05). Mean CMT significantly decreased from 386+/-147 to 216+/-74 microm at the 12-month follow-up. No significant adverse events were observed during the study. The mean number of injections was 5.8+/-1.7 during the follow-up period.

CONCLUSION

The 1-year follow-up outcomes in our series suggest that ranibizumab is an effective treatment for RAP in AMD, allowing stabilization of BCVA and reduction of CMT.