title: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VISUAL PROGNOSIS AND DELAY OF INTRAVITREAL INJECTION OF RANIBIZUMAB WHEN TREATING AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In age-related macular degeneration, various factors in clinical practice cause delays to arise between the time exudative change is observed and the time anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs are actually injected. We investigated the influence of injection delay on prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were 50 eyes (50 patients from 2 hospitals) that were administered ranibizumab monotherapy for age-related macular degeneration for 1 year since exudative change was first observed. We investigated the mean number of delay days for each injection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean injection delay was between 0 and 104 days. Significant prognostic factors for visual acuity were initial best-corrected visual acuity (P < 0.01) and mean injection delay (P = 0.03). We estimated that for an initial best-corrected visual acuity of 0.40 logMAR unit (20/50 Snellen equivalent), the respective best-corrected visual acuity values after 1 year for mean injection delays of 0, 7, 14, 28, and 56 days would be 0.22 (20/33), 0.24 (20/35), 0.26 (20/37), 0.31 (20/40), and 0.39 (20/49). For an initial best-corrected visual acuity of 0.097 (20/25), the respective values would be 0.054 (20/23), 0.075 (20/24), 0.10 (20/25), 0.14 (20/28), and 0.22 (20/33).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Long-term visual acuity prognosis worsened when scheduling problems delayed intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs.
authors.affiliation: *Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke-shi, Japan; †Department of Ophthalmology, Japan Community Health Care Organization Tokyo Shinjuku Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan; and ‡Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohkubo
authors.forename: Aya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Mikiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takezawa
authors.forename: Yujiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujino
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yanagi
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawashima
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D000069579:Ranibizumab / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; 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; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000069579:Ranibizumab