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BCVA stabilizes with as-needed anti-VEGF
Eur J Ophthalmol. 2011;21(3):282-289.
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A low number of anti-VEGF injections in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration produced positive results after 1 year of treatment, but the results fell short of the efficacy associated with more frequent injections, according to a study.
In the retrospective, longitudinal, consecutive interventional case series conducted at a tertiary retinal center in Spain, 67 eyes were treated as needed with ranibizumab 0.5 mg.
Mean change in best corrected visual acuity was 1.3 letters, with patients gaining 1.9 letters 1 month after the first injection.
"These results suggest that an as-needed treatment with ranibizumab 0.5 mg from the start in patients with neovascular AMD may achieve mean stabilization of BCVA after more than 1 year of follow-up with a mean of 3.5 intravitreal injections, although [the results] do not get close to the efficacy reported in the MARINA and ANCHOR trials with monthly injections," the study authors said.
Of the 67 treated eyes, 31 had ocular disorders at baseline that might have affected best corrected visual acuity results, but mean BVCA change was similar for eyes with and without previous ocular disease. Two-thirds of eyes had been previously treated with anti-angiogenic drugs or photodynamic therapy 3 months prior.
Patients were 50 years or older with active primary or recurrent choroidal neovascularization secondary to neovascular AMD and BCVA between 20 and 85 letters. Minimum follow-up was 8 months from the first injection.
Limitations of the study included its small size and lack of control group, according to the authors.