New England Journal of Medicine
Ranibizumab for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Philip J. Rosenfeld, MD, PhD, David M. Brown, MD, Jeffrey S. Heier, MD, David S. Boyer, MD, Peter K. Kaiser, MD, Carol Y. Chung, PhD, Robert Y. Kim, MD, for the MARINA Study Group.
Background: Ranibizumab—a recombinant, humanized, monoclonal antibody Fab that neutralizes all active forms of vascular endothelial growth factor A—has been evaluated for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
Methods: In this multicenter, 2-year, double-blind, sham-controlled study, we randomly assigned patients with age-related macular degeneration with either minimally classic or occult (with no classic lesions) choroidal neovascularization to receive 24 monthly intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (either 0.3 mg or 0.5 mg) or sham injections. The primary end point was the proportion of patients losing fewer than 15 letters from baseline visual acuity at 12 months.
Results: We enrolled 716 patients in the study. At 12 months, . . . [Full Text of this Article]
