Bevacizumab versus ranibizumab in the treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration

The purpose of this article is to describe functional and morphological short-term results in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) of all subtypes, treated with intravitreal bevacizumab versus intravitreal ranibizumab. This was a retrospective case-controlled series of 30 patients treated with intravitreal bevacizumab and 30 patients treated with intravitreal ranibizumab for exudative AMD. All patients received three initial injections every 4 weeks. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) as well as greatest linear dimension (GLD) of the CNV in fluorescein angiography and central retinal thickness (CRT) in optical coherence tomography (OCT) were monitored 2-4 months after last injection. BCVA stabilized and slightly increased from logMAR 0.74 to 0.62 in the bevacizumab group, and from logMAR 0.76 to 0.58 in the ranibizumab group (P<0.05 for each group). No statistical difference was seen between both groups at any time-point. CRT was significantly reduced in both groups at last followup. In contrast, GLD did not change significantly. Patients with exudative AMD of all subtypes benefit from intravitreal anti-VEGF injections. No significant difference between bevacizumab and ranibizumab is seen in the short-term follow-up. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.