Four-year treatment results of neovascular age-related macular degeneration with ranibizumab and causes for discontinuation of treatment

Purpose: To evaluate 4-year treatment results of neovascular age-related macular degeneration with ranibizumab using a variable dosing regimen. Design: Retrospective, single-center chart review. Methods: This was a retrospective single-center study that included 855 patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration receiving treatment with ranibizumab during a 4-year period. Included in the study were patients with a minimum follow-up of 15 months and all patients who terminated treatment regardless of follow-up. Results: A total of 1321 patients were treated over the 4-year period, and 855 patients were eligible for inclusion. Of those, 456 patients were still receiving active treatment, whereas 399 patients had discontinued treatment. Overall treatment results showed a significant decrease in vision from 53.2 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters (range, 1 to 85 letters) to 50.5 letters (range, 1 to 87 letters; P <.001). Mean follow-up was 23.3 months (range, 4 to 48 months). The reason for discontinuing treatment in 181 patients was no signs of activity, whereas 113 patients were judged to be nontreatable. Thirty-six patients declined further treatment for various reasons. Conclusions: This report shows that when follow-up extends beyond 2 to 3 years, visual acuity does seem to decrease. Our data show that different responder groups can be identified: bad or nonresponders (approximately 15% of all patients) and good responders (approximately 21% of all patients). These 2 groups in general can be identified within the first 2 years of treatment, whereas the third group of regular responders (approximately 64% of all patients) require continuous monitoring and treatment for years.