BCVA results better maintained with monthly ranibizumab treatments

Ophthalmology. 2011;118(5):831-839.

Monthly injections with ranibizumab maintained best corrected visual acuity results better than did quarterly injections in patients with subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration, according to a study.

The double-masked, active-controlled, multicenter, phase 3b EXCITE study randomized 353 patients to three ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) treatment groups: one receiving 0.3 mg quarterly, one receiving 0.5 mg quarterly, and one receiving standard monthly injections of 0.3 mg. All groups received monthly injections of 0.3 mg for the first 3 months of the study. Thereafter, patients in the quarterly groups received two sham injections monthly and ranibizumab every third month. After 12 months, the group receiving monthly ranibizumab injections showed superior BCVA results.

BCVA in both eyes was tested at each visit using ETDRS-like charts, with an initial testing distance of 4 m. The mean BCVA increase from baseline to 12 months was 4.9 letters in the 0.3-mg quarterly group, 3.8 in the 0.5-mg quarterly group and 8.3 in the 0.3-mg monthly group.

"The efficacy results from the EXCITE study demonstrate that on average and in contrast with the monthly treatment group, a quarterly ranibizumab treatment regimen is not able to maintain the initially gained BCVA," the study authors said.