Researchers have completed a retrospective cohort evaluation of 334 Asian eyes with subfoveal neovascular AMD, treated with three monthly loading injections of ranibizumab, to investigate predictive factors of recurrence after more than one year.
Overall, 236 eyes showed complete resolution of retinal exudative change after three injections, and 81 eyes experienced no recurrence within 12 months. Of the 236 eyes, retinal exudative change was detected in 155 eyes within 12 months. At two years or more of follow-up of 139 eyes, exudation recurred in 104 eyes.
The authors identified no significant association between baseline characteristics, genotypes and response to loading treatments. Older age and male gender were the only predictive factors identified in patients who required re-treatment for recurrence within 12 months following treatment.
At 24 months, age, subtype of AMD and visual acuity (VA) at baseline were associated with VA; improvement was significantly better in eyes without recurrence vs. those with recurrence in that time period.
Among eyes with recurrence, the polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy subgroup had a significantly shorter interval of recurrence at 3.6 ± 2.2 months compared with recurrence at 4.5 ± 2.2 months in eyes with typical AMD.
The authors wrote, “Other prognostic factors need to be explored for the purpose of tailoring the ranibizumab treatment regimen to each patient with a favourable improvement of VA and
less burden.”
The study was published in Ophthalmology.
