AIM: To evaluate the visual and anatomic outcomes of intravitreal ranibizumab injections for myopic choroidal neovascularization(mCNV)in Chinese patients.

METHODS: This study is a retrospective case. Thirty-five patients treated for mCNV were included in this study. Their eyes were treated with a single intravitreal injection of 0.5 mg ranibizumab following a pro re nata(PRN)regimen indicated by persistent or recurrent CNV. Best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), CNV findings on fundus fluorescent angiography(FFA), central retinal thickness(CRT)on optical coherence tomography(OCT), total number of treatments, and complications were evaluated.

RESULTS:The mean follow-up duration was 20mo(range 16-24mo). Twenty-eight patients(80%)were followed up for more 22mo. The mean baseline BCVA was 0.74 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution(logMAR)\〖standard deviation(SD)0.23\〗 and improved significantly to 0.49 logMAR(SD 0.31)(P<0.001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test)after treatment. At the final months of follow-up, 21 of the 35 eyes(60%)showed an improvement of 2 lines or more in BCVA, 13 eyes(37%)remained unchanged, and 1 eye(3%)had a deterioration of 2 lines or more. Mean CRT decreased from 297 μm(SD, 72)at baseline to 228 μm(SD, 61)at the final follow-up(P<0.001, paired t-test). During follow-up, the mean number of repeat injections was 3.2(SD, 0.94; range, 1-7 injections). No drug-related complications were observed after treatment.

CONCLUSION:The long-term outcomes observed in this study suggest that intravitreal ranibizumab is safe and effective for treating mCNV.