Assessment of The Long-Term Visual And Anatomical Outcomes of Ranibizumab To Treat Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Abstract

AIM: To investigate the long-term visual and anatomical outcomes of patients who underwent intravitreal ranibizumab monotherapy to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and followed-up for at least 2y. METHODS: A total of 74 eyes of 74 patients who underwent ranibizumab monotherapy for neovascular AMD were included in this retrospective study. RESULTS: The average patient age was 72.1 +/- 6.5 (range, 57-85)y, the average follow-up time 46.2 +/- 13.1 (range, 24-75)mo, and the average number of visits 24.1 +/- 9.5 (range, 8-48). The mean number of injections in year 1 was 4.5, 1.6 in year 2, 0.9 in year 3, 0.4 on year 4, and 0.1 in the following years. Within the entire follow-up period, the mean number of injections was 7.6 +/- 4.4 (range, 2-21). The mean visual acuity was 48.1 +/- 15 (range, 15-76) letters at baseline and 45.7 +/- 19 (range, 7-75) at year 5. The mean central macular thickness was 303 +/- 78 (range, 178-552) mu m at baseline and 251 +/- 51 (range, 138-359) mu m at year 5. Scars developed in 47 (63.5%) eyes at the end of the follow-up period, and atrophy was evident in 6 (8.1%) eyes. CONCLUSION: Ranibizumab monotherapy can stabilize visual acuity for a mean period of 4y in patients with neovascular AMD.