Seven Year Update of Macular Degeneration Patients

This is a cross-sectional cohort study of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients seven or more years after initiation of the intravitreal ranibizumab regimen in the treatment arms of the pivotal ANCHOR or MARINA studies, who had subsequent follow up in the HORIZON Study. While the MARINA and ANCHOR studies established the benefit of ranibizumab at 2 years, many patients in the U.S. have now undergone treatment for many years, and the longer-term outcomes for this chronic disease remain unknown. Despite earlier hopes for limited duration treatment, subsequent clinical experience suggests that many patients require continued treatment. The patient population for this study is unique, in that the patients in the treatment arms of MARINA and ANCHOR are some of the earliest treated patients, providing the longest-term data available for AMD patients receiving ranibizumab. Patients recalled into this study will be evaluated to provide an update on their current visual acuity, disease activity status, anatomic characteristics, and genotype. There is a single study visit to extend the clinical history and to perform vision testing, ophthalmologic examination, and retinal imaging studies, including high-resolution spectral-domain OCT and fundus autofluorescence imaging, technologies unavailable at the time of the original ANCHOR and MARINA Trials. Genetic analysis will be performed for known AMD risk genes as well as candidate genes to study genotypic profiles associated with AMD disease progression and long-term treatment response. Understanding the course of 7-plus years of current generation AMD treatment will serve physicians in the ongoing management of this chronic disease.