Comparison of Ranibizumab and Aflibercept Effects on Inner Retinal Layers in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the changes of all inner retinal layers in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) during anti- vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatments and to compare two different anti-VEGF agents; ranibizumab and aflibercept. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, comparative study comprised 40 treatment-naive eyes of 40 patients treated with ranibizumab (20 eyes) or aflibercept (20 eyes) injections for nAMD. Thicknesses of the total retina and inner retinal layers were measured by spectral-domain OCT in the central 1-mm diameter and surrounding 3-mm diameter rings of Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study grid. Changes in each layer and comparison between ranibizumab and aflibercept groups were analyzed statistically during 1-year follow-up. Results: The ranibizumab group showed 3.85±16.54 letters of increase and the aflibercept group showed 4.20±16.30 letters of increase at the end of 1 year. There was a significant decrease in total retinal thickness in both groups at the end of 1 year (p=0.006 in ranibizumab, p=0.005 in aflibercept). Ganglion cell layer thinning was significant at the end of 3 months, thinning of the inner nuclear layer was significant at the end of one year in both groups (p