Intravitreal ranibizumab for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy with recurrent or residual exudation

To clarify the efficiency of ranibizumab for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in patients with regressed polypoidal lesions after previous photodynamic therapy (PDT) applications but recurrent or residual exudation from branching vascular network vessels.

We retrospectively reviewed 59 eyes of 59 Japanese patients (47 men and 12 women) with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Treatments were chosen according to the period. Thirty-four patients were treated with PDT (PDT group) and 25 patients were treated with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (ranibizumab group).

In the ranibizumab group, the mean best-corrected visual acuity levels at baseline and 6 months were 0.27 and 0.41, respectively, showing a significant (P < 1× 10) improvement from baseline. In the PDT group, the mean best-corrected visual acuity levels at baseline and 6 months were 0.29 and 0.24, respectively, showing a significant (P < 0.01) decline from baseline. The mean numbers of treatments at 6 months in the ranibizumab and the PDT groups were 3.6 and 1.4, respectively. A subretinal hemorrhage (>1 disk diameter) developed in 5 eyes in the PDT group.

Intravitreal ranibizumab is an effective treatment for maintaining or improving visual acuity and the anatomical changes in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy with recurrent or residual exudation from branching vascular network vessels.