Effect of Ranibizumab Injections on Visual Acuity and Central Macula Thickness

Purpose:  To see the effect of Ranibizumab at 1-monthly and 2-monthly intervals on visual acuity and central macula thickness among patients with diabetic macular edema, neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Study Design:  Retrospective review of clinical record. Place and Duration of Study:  The present study was conducted at four eye centers (Al-Shami Eye Center, Sudan Eye Center, Makkah Eye Complex and Nor-Aloyon Eye Hospital) located at Khartoum state of Sudan from January 2021 and June 2021. Methods:  A total of 109 records of patients with diabetic retinopathy, age related macular degeneration and macular edema were included. They were categorized into 4 groups; group A (wet age-related macular edema (WAMD, n = 16)), group B (macular edema (ME, n = 32)), group C (proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR, n = 31)), and group D (non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy and macular edema (NPDR + ME, n = 30)). All participants underwent full ophthalmic examination before the injection, at one month and two months after the injection. Means, standard deviations and frequencies were calculated. ANOVA was used to find any significant difference between the study groups and the impact of treatment. Results:  Mean age of patients was 57.73 ± 10.44 years. There was significant improvement in terms of mean visual acuity from baseline to third follow up in all study groups, (F (1, 105) = 14.94, P < 0.001), with no significant differences in this improvement between the study groups, F (1.83, 5.48) =14.6, P = 0.19. Conclusion:  Use of Lucentis has demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in CMT and improvement in BCVA. However, none of the patients showed a complete resolution of edema at the end of last follow up.