Intravitreal pegaptanib sodium for myopic choroidal neovascularization: 1 year results of a prospective pilot study

Objective: To evaluate ophthalmologic outcomes 1 year after intravitreal pegaptanib sodium injection in patients with myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV).

Methods: We investigated 31 eyes of 30 patients who had been given intravitreal pegaptanib sodium (0.3 mg) injections for subfoveal or juxtafoveal myopic CNV at 6-week intervals from July through December 2009. We compared visual acuity, retinal sensitivity within the central 12 degrees and maximum lesion diameter, and quantified metamorphopsia using M-CHARTS (Inami Co., Tokyo) both before and after the intravitreal injections. The Wilcoxon test was applied to identify statistically significant differences.

Results: Mean logMAR visual acuity was 0.49 +/- 0.38 before and 0.47 +/- 0.35 after treatment (p = 0.56); the corresponding values for mean retinal sensitivity were 7.48 +/- 3.69 dB and 8.15 +/- 4.18 dB (p = 0.24). Mean maximum lesion diameter was significantly reduced from 1,217 microm to 1,041 microm after treatment (p = 0.0021). Mean metamorphopsia scores were significantly improved after treatment, i.e., 0.85 +/- 0.68 to 0.50 +/- 0.39 for vertical lines (p = 0.016); 0.81 +/- 0.74 to 0.47 +/- 0.41 for horizontal lines (p = 0.017). The average number of injections was 3.1. No patient experienced adverse events associated with treatment.

Conclusions: Visual acuity and retinal sensitivity were maintained, while metamorphopsia was improved 1 year after intravitreal pegaptanib sodium injections for myopic CNV.