Time to initial clinician-reported inactivation of neovascular age-related macular degeneration treated primarily with ranibizumab

Purpose: To characterize in more detail routine treatment patterns of intravitreal ranibizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), we analyzed the length of time and the number of injections required until lesions with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) were first graded inactive.

Design: Database observational study.

Participants: Treatment-naïve eyes receiving predominantly ranibizumab for nAMD in routine clinical practice that were tracked in the Fight Retinal Blindness! observational registry.

Methods: Eyes treated with ranibizumab were followed until CNV was first reported to be “inactive” (i.e., absence of intraretinal fluid and hemorrhages).

Main outcome measures: The length of time until lesion inactivation occurred and the number of injections required.

Results: A total of 1096 eyes (65.8% from women) were included in the study. The median number of weeks until a lesion was graded as inactive after beginning treatment was 15 weeks. One to 3 injections were sufficient to inactivate the lesion in 61.1% of eyes. A mean change in visual acuity of +5.5 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution letters (95% confidence interval, 4.8-6.3) was found from treatment initiation to the time that eyes were reported as inactive. In eyes with a mean treatment frequency less than every 5.3 weeks, a median of only 3 injections (mean=3.7) were required before lesions with CNV were graded as inactive, but if the mean treatment interval extended beyond 5.3 weeks, the median number of injections required increased sharply to 6 injections (mean, 7 injections). Occult lesions became inactive more slowly than classic lesions.

Conclusions: Most lesions with CNV became inactive with 3 injections of ranibizumab, but a small proportion remained active for more than 12 months. Injection frequency and lesion type were the main factors that predicted the time and number of injections required to render lesions inactive.