title: Super-dose anti-VEGF (SAVE) trial: 2.0 mg intravitreal ranibizumab for recalcitrant neovascular macular degeneration-primary end point.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether a higher dose of intravitreal ranibizumab could improve the anatomy and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with persistent disease activity despite monthly intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections.
  
  
  METHODS
  Phase I to II multicenter, open-label, controlled clinical trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-seven patients with recalcitrant neovascular AMD, defined as having leakage on fundus fluorescein angiography or spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) despite monthly anti-VEGF injections.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were treated with 2.0-mg ranibizumab injections monthly for 3 doses and monitored with Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) 4-m refractions, clinical examinations, and SD-OCT.
  
  
  METHODS
  The mean change in baseline visual acuity (VA), the percentage of patients who experienced a loss or gain of 15 or more letters in ETDRS BCVA, the mean change in central retinal thickness, and the incidence of adverse events.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-seven patients with an average of 24 injections before enrollment and a mean of 10.4 injections in the preceding 12 months had a mean refracted VA of 69.2 ETDRS letters (20/41 Snellen) and a mean central subfield of 422 μm at baseline. Mean VA gain over baseline was +2.5 letters at day 7 (n = 82), +3.7 letters at month 1 (n = 87), +3.9 letters at month 2 (n = 87), and +3.3 letters at month 3 (20/36 Snellen; P = 0.001; n = 86). Anatomic outcomes showed a mean optical coherence tomography central subfield thickness improvement from baseline of -48.4 μm at day 7 (n = 84), -37.5 μm at month 1 (n = 87), -42.4 μm at month 2 (n = 85), and -33.1 μm at month 3 (P = 0.01; n = 86).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intravitreal injections of 2.0 mg ranibizumab led to statistically significant VA gains and anatomic improvement in patients with persistent intraretinal, subretinal, or subretinal pigment epithelial fluid during a previous regimen of chronic monthly 0.5-mg ranibizumab injections.
authors.affiliation: Retina Consultants of Houston, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA. dmbmd@houstonretina.com
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Angeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Major
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D023381:Endpoint Determination; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D000069579:Ranibizumab; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000069579:Ranibizumab