Three-year visual outcome and injection frequency of intravitreal ranibizumab therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

BACKGROUND

To assess the 3-year visual outcome and injection frequency for patients on ranibizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NV-AMD).

METHODS

Retrospective case-note review of 174 treatment-naïve eyes of 156 patients with NV-AMD with 3-year follow-up was done at specific time points closest to 12, 24 and 36 months.

RESULTS

The median baseline visual acuity (VA) of 50 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters (mean 48.2 ± 16.9) improved significantly to 55 (mean 51.2 ± 18.7) by the end of 12 months (p = 0.04). At 24 months, the median letter score remained unchanged at 55 (mean 50.4 ± 20.8; p = 0.14 as compared to baseline) and at 36 months, the median VA was 54 letters (mean 49.1 ± 21.7; p = 0.34 compared to baseline). The mean numbers of injections were 4.8 ± 2.2 at 1 year, 7.8 ± 4.2 at 2 years (2.9 in the second year) and 10.2 ± 6.2 at the end of the third year (2.4 in the third year).

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrates the efficacy of a variable dosing regimen of ranibizumab for the treatment of NV-AMD. The mean gain in VA is inversely proportional to the baseline VA and did not correlate with the number of injections.