Subfoveal Choroidal Thickness after Ranibizumab Therapy for Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration: 12-Month Results

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To investigate the changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness after intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (IVRs) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Prospective, consecutive, interventional case series. Eighty eyes (40 affected eyes with neovascular AMD and 40 unaffected fellow eyes) of 40 patients. Forty eyes with neovascular AMD were treated with 0.5-mg IVRs monthly for 3 months and received additional IVRs as needed over the following 9-month period. Subfoveal choroidal thickness in all 80 eyes was measured by use of enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography images before and after starting the IVRs. Changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness after treatment by IVRs over a 12-month period. Twenty-three eyes (57.5%) were diagnosed with typical neovascular AMD, 16 eyes (40%) were diagnosed with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, and 1 eye (2.5%) was diagnosed with retinal angiomatous proliferation. Fifteen eyes (38%) had received some previous treatments for the neovascular lesion before undergoing the IVRs. The mean best-corrected visual acuity of the affected eyes was improved from 0.54 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution units at baseline to 0.42 at 12 months (P = 0.020). The mean subfoveal choroidal thickness in the affected eyes decreased from 244±62 μm at baseline to 234±66 μm at 1 month (P = 0.013), 226±68 μm at 3 months (P<0.001), 229±67 μm at 6 months (P = 0.002), and 226±66 μm at 12 months (P = 0.002; the change ratio, 93%), whereas that in the unaffected eyes changed from 237±80 μm at baseline to 238±83 μm at 12 months (P = 0.78). In the affected eyes, the change ratio of subfoveal choroidal thickness at 12 months was not correlated with the number of IVRs (mean, 5.8±2.9). Subfoveal choroidal thickness demonstrated a similar trend toward decreasing during the following period independent of the subtypes of neovascular AMD or the treatment histories. Subfoveal choroidal thickness decreased after IVRs in eyes with neovascular AMD. Intravitreal injections of ranibizumab may provide a pharmacologic effect not only on the neovascular lesion but also on the underlying choroid.