Visual outcomes of age-related macular degeneration patients undergoing intravitreal ranibizumab monotherapy in an urban population

AIM To compare the visual outcomes of an urban population with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) undergoing ranibizumab monotherapy to the results from major clinical trials. PROCEDURES Prospective data was collected from 164 wet AMD patients receiving intravitreal ranibizumab. Visual acuities were obtained with the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study chart. All patients underwent a loading phase of three monthly treatments of ranibizumab. Patients were monitored monthly using a retreatment criterion. Treatment was further individualized by sequentially lengthening follow-up intervals when stable. RESULTS At 12 and 24 months, respectively, the percentage of eyes that maintained vision was 91% and 88.6%. We found that 20.3% of eyes had improved vision at 12 months and 20% at 24 months. At 12 months, 8.3% of eyes' vision worsened and 12% worsened at 24 months. CONCLUSION Individualized ranibizumab monotherapy is effective in preserving vision in wet AMD and follows the same trends as the pivotal trials.