Intravitreal ranibizumab for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization from age-related macular degeneration with combined severe diabetic retinopathy.
BACKGROUND
To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV) from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with combined severe diabetic retinopathy (DR).


METHODS
This retrospective, interventional case series included eleven patients (mean age, 70.09 years; range, 54 to 83 years) with at least severe non-proliferative DR and subfoveal CNV secondary to AMD. Each subject was treated with intravitreal injections of 0.5 mg ranibizumab. The primary outcomes included change in best-corrected visual acuity and central subfield thickness (CST) on optical coherence tomography (OCT).


RESULTS
The mean follow-up time was 16.7±14 months (range, 6 to 31 months). Mean visual acuity improved from 1.21±0.80 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) to 1.0±0.6 logMAR (P=0.107), 0.95±0.62 logMAR (P=0.044), 1.10±0.68 logMAR (P=0.296), and 1.13±0.66 logMAR (P=0.838) at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after injection, respectively. Eight patients (72.7%) gained or maintained vision (mean 0.32 logMAR), whereas three patients (27.3%) lost more than one line of vision (mean 0.51 logMAR). The mean OCT CST was 343.9±134.6 µm at baseline, and the mean CST at 1, 3, 6, 12 months after the injection was 367.8±172.1 (P=0.864), 346.2±246.2 (P=0.857), 342±194.1 (P=0.551), and 294.2±108.3 µm (P=0.621), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Intravitreal ranibizumab injection can be considered to be a therapy for the stabilization of subfoveal CNV secondary to AMD with combined severe DR. However, these patients might exhibit limited visual improvement after treatment.
Institute of Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
So Young
SY
Han
Department of Ophthalmology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Jeong Hun
JH
Bae
Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Jaeryung
J
Oh
Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Hyeong Gon
HG
Yu
Department of Ophthalmology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Su Jeong
SJ
Song
Choroidal neovascularization; Diabetic retinopathy; Macular degeneration