Intravitreal ranibizumab treatment of retinal angiomatous proliferation.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the efficacy of intravitreal injections of ranibizumab in the treatment of retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration.


METHODS
Retrospective, consecutive case series of 26 eyes (26 patients) treated with intravitreal injections of 0.5 mg ranibizumab for RAP. Patients received intravitreal injections at monthly intervals during upload phase for a 3-month period.


RESULTS
Mean visual acuity before treatment was 0.75 ± 0.38logMAR (mean ± SD, n = 26). In the upload phase, mean visual acuity improved 4 weeks after the initial injection to 0.6 ± 0.37logMAR (n = 26) and to 0.53 ± 0.34logMAR (n = 26) 4 weeks after the third monthly intravitreal injection of ranibizumab. The mean optical coherence tomography (OCT) central foveal thickness reduced from 345 ± 55 μm at baseline to 215 ± 87 μm at 3 months. In the maintenance phase, mean visual acuity after 6 months was 0.66 ± 0.38logMAR (n = 12) and 0.7 ± 0.37logMAR after 9 months (n = 6). The mean OCT central foveal thickness was 259 ± 59 μm (n = 13) at 6 months and 280 ± 127 μm (n = 6) at nine-month follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Intravitreal ranibizumab resulted in an improvement of visual acuity 4 weeks after the first injection but was more pronounced after 3 months. A reduction in leakage and OCT central foveal thickness was seen 3 months after the commencement of treatment.
Kramann
Christina A
CA
Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Schöpfer
Kilian
K
Lorenz
Katrin
K
Zwiener
Isabella
I
Stoffelns
Bernhard M
BM
Pfeiffer
Norbert
N
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000798:Angiomatosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000069579:Ranibizumab; D015861:Retinal Neovascularization / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D019233:Retreatment; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000069579:Ranibizumab