title: Effects of Vitreomacular Traction on Ranibizumab Treatment Response in Eyes with Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of vitreomacular traction (VMT) on ranibizumab treatment response for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of 85 eyes of 85 patients newly diagnosed with neovascular AMD was conducted. Patients were eligible if they had received more than three consecutive monthly ranibizumab (0.50 mg) treatments and ophthalmic evaluations. Patients were classified into a VMT (+) group or VMT (-) group according to optical coherence tomography imaging. Best corrected visual acuity and central retinal thickness (CRT) measurements were obtained at three and six months after initial injection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One month after the third injection, mean visual acuity (VA) increases of 6.36 and 9.87 letters were observed in the VMT (+) and VMT (-) groups, respectively. The corresponding mean CRT values decreased by 70.29 µm and 121.68 µm, respectively. A total 41 eyes were identified as eligible for a subsequent fourth injection; 71.1% of patients (27 eyes) in the VMT (+) group but only 29.8% of patients in the VMT (-) group needed a subsequent fourth injection. Follow-up was extended to six months for 42 of the 85 enrolled patients (49.4%). The trends in VA and optical coherence tomography were found to be maintained at six-month follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VA and CRT appeared to be more improved after ranibizumab treatment in the VMT (-) group compared to the VMT (+) group. VMT might antagonize the effect of ranibizumab treatment in a subpopulation of AMD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Inha Vision Science Laboratory, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea. ; Graduate School of Medical Sciences and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Kang Hoon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Inha Vision Science Laboratory, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Seung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Inha Vision Science Laboratory, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Na Rae
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Inha Vision Science Laboratory, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Yeon Sung
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Moon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000069579:Ranibizumab / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000267:Tissue Adhesions; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000187:drug effects; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000473:pathology*; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000069579:Ranibizumab
keywords: Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor; Neovascular age-related macular degeneration; Optical coherence tomography; Ranibizumab; Vitreomacular traction