The 12-month outcome of three consecutive monthly intravitreal injections of ranibizumab for myopic choroidal neovascularization.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the 12-month outcomes, efficacy, and safety of three consecutive monthly intravitreal ranibizumab injections for myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV).

METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 25 consecutive eyes that received a loading dose of three consecutive monthly intravitreal injections of ranibizumab for myopic CNV between February, 2008, and March, 2010, with a follow-up of 12 months. Eyes with persistent or recurrent CNV after 3 months received additional ranibizumab injections as needed. Patients' demographic data, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), CNV findings on fluorescent angiography (FAG), central macular thickness (CMT) on optical coherence tomography (OCT), total number of treatments, and complications were recorded.

RESULTS: Mean baseline BCVA was 0.73 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) (standard deviation [SD] 0.63), and improved significantly to 0.42 logMAR (SD 0.43) at 1 month, 0.38 logMAR (SD 0.47) at 2 months, 0.34 logMAR (SD 0.43) at 3 months, and 0.34 logMAR (SD 0.40) at 12 months (all P<0.001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). The average number of injections was 3.44 (SD 0.92). At 12 months, mean improvement was 2.88 lines (SD 2.35), and 20 eyes (80%) showed a gain of at least one line after treatment. At 3 months, OCT showed significant reduction in CMT (P=0.012, two-tailed t-test), and FAG showed significant reduction of mean CNV size from 0.3 (SD 0.16) to 0.19 (SD 0.12) disc area (P=0.007, two-tailed t-test). No angiographic leakage was evident at 3 months in 21 eyes (84%); four eyes (16%) required additional injections for persistent leakage. Two eyes (8%) had recurrent CNV during follow-up and required retreatment. No complications were noted after treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: An initial loading dose of three ranibizumab injections is safe and effective in treating myopic CNV, with visual improvement maintained over 12 months.