Drugs May Be Beneficial in Age-Related Macular Degeneration
by -- Rick Ansorge Updated: Feb 4th 2010
THURSDAY, Feb. 4 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration, intravitreal bevacizumab or ranibizumab may help stabilize the loss of visual acuity, according to a study in the February issue of Ophthalmology.
Donald S. Fong, M.D., of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Baldwin Park, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study of 324 patients treated with bevacizumab and 128 patients treated with ranibizumab.
After one year, the researchers found that 22.9 percent of the bevacizumab group and 25 percent of the ranibizumab group attained at least 20/40 visual acuity, and that 27.3 percent of the bevacizumab group and 20.2 percent of the ranibizumab group had improved vision.
"Because the study is a nonrandomized comparison, selection bias could mask a true treatment difference," the authors conclude. "Results from the Comparison of the Age-related Macular Degeneration Treatment Trials will provide more definitive information about the comparative effectiveness of these drugs."
One author reported a financial relationship with Med E Direct.
