title: The Presence of Intra- or Subretinal Fluid during the Loading Phase in the Treatment of Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration with Intravitreal Ranibizumab Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess intra- and subretinal fluid during the loading phase with intravitreal ranibizumab in exudative age-related macular degeneration and to quantify the accuracy of crosshair scan spectral-domain optical coherence tomography with regard to retinal fluid.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a retrospective study of 31 treatment-naive patients who received 3 monthly intravitreal ranibizumab injections. Visual acuity and the presence of retinal fluid were assessed at each visit using volume and crosshair scan protocols.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Visual acuity improved and central retinal thickness decreased significantly during the loading phase. However, retinal fluid persisted in two thirds of the patients. The accuracy of the crosshair scan to detect fluid was 93%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A substantial proportion of eyes had persistent fluid after 3 months of ranibizumab injections. However, visual improvement was independent of residual fluid.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Crosshair scans detect relevant collections of retinal fluid accurately and may be sufficient in daily clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ebneter
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gekkiev
authors.forename: Bhuvan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chanana
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Martin S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Zinkernagel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005122:Exudates and Transudates; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000069579:Ranibizumab / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D058471:Subretinal Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000069579:Ranibizumab