Ranibizumab for vascularized pigment epithelial detachment: 1-year anatomic and functional results

To assess the anatomical and functional efficacy of ranibizumab on vascularized pigment epithelial detachment (V-PED) secondary to neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

One hundred and nine patients (116 eyes) were retrospectively selected from medical records of 2097 patients who benefited from intravitreal injection between January 2011 and June 2013 in a tertiary-care University-based Department of Ophthalmology. Inclusion criteria were: nAMD, treatment-naive eyes, presence of V-PED higher than 250 μm, intravitreal ranibizumab with a loading phase, followed by a pro-re-nata regimen, and 1-year follow-up. Baseline characteristics and type of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) were analyzed. PED height, central macular thickness (CMT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA, logMAR) were measured at baseline, months 3, 6 and 12.

CNV was of type 1 in 91 eyes (78.4 %), type 2 in seven (6 %), type 3 in six (5.2 %), and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in 12 (10.3 %). Mean CMT at baseline was 572.1 μm and decreased to 396.6 μm (p < 0.0001) at 12 months. Mean height of PED was 458.2 μm at baseline and 306.8 μm (p < 0.0001) at 12 months. Mean BCVA improved from 0.46 at baseline to 0.39 at 12 months (p = 0.013).

Treatment with ranibizumab improved visual and anatomical outcome in nAMD patients with V-PED.