Patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration being treated with monthly dosing of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy have the lowest rate of macular hemorrhage compared with patients treated with sham or alternative therapy and have lower rates than patients treated with quarterly dosing schemes, according to a study.
In a review of data from three multicenter, randomized clinical trials (MARINA, ANCHOR and PIER), patients injected with monthly dosing of Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) consistently had the lowest rate of macular edema.
In the MARINA trial, 8.8% of patients in each of the 0.3-mg and 0.5-mg groups had a macular hemorrhage in the first 3 months of the trial compared with 27.3% in the photodynamic therapy group. Those rates climbed to 13.2%, 13.0% and 38.0%, respectively, in months 5 to 17 of the trial.
Results from the ANCHOR trial, in which PDT was the third arm of study, were similar. Rates of macular hemorrhage between months 0 and 3 were 8.0%, 8.6% and 27.3% in the 0.3-mg, 0.5-mg and PDT arms, respectively; between months 5 and 17, the respective rates were 12.5%, 12.3% and 47.8%.
However, there was no difference seen between sham-treated patients and patients dosed with quarterly intravitreal ranibizumab therapy: 3.4%, 3.3% and 16.1%, respectively, in the 0.3-mg, 0.5-mg and sham groups between 0 to 3 months, but 23.7%, 28.3% and 22.4%, respectively, between months 5 and 17 of that study.
Retina. 2010;30(9):1376-1385.
