A new study finds that high dietary intake of nutrients with antioxidant properties reduces the risk of early AMD in those at high genetic risk. Therefore, clinicians should provide dietary advice to young susceptible individuals to postpone or prevent the vision-disabling consequences of AMD. The etiology of AMD is complex with both genetic...

The long-awaited primary outcome of the Comparison of Age-related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trial (CATT) study was that patients receiving either monthly Avastin (bevacizumab) or monthly Lucentis (ranibizumab) had equivalent visual acuity at 1 year. For the majority of clinicians who already preferentially used Avastin for age-related...

The much anticipated CATT study has now been published. The National Eye Institute is to be applauded for having sponsored this landmark trial and for setting a new standard of transparency by submitting most of the raw data on the Internet. Millions of people who cannot afford Lucentis (ranibizumab) now have the benefit of a high level of...

For 5 years, patients and clinicians have wrestled with the choice between two drugs for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the cytokine primarily responsible for blood-vessel growth, is inhibited when anti-VEGF drugs are injected repeatedly into the eye, and blindness is...

Intraocular injections of anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents have yielded dramatic improvements in the management of a wide variety of neovascular ocular diseases including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), retinal vein occlusion, and retinopathy of prematurity. These agents have thus become...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved aflibercept ophthalmic solution (Eylea, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc) for the treatment of neovascular ("wet") age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in November 2011. "Eylea is an important new treatment option for adults with wet AMD," said Edward Cox of the FDA. "It is a potentially...

Avastin and Lucentis had equivalent effects on visual acuity at 1 year, accirding to the much anticipated Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT) research group. Clinical trials have established the efficacy of Lucentis (ranibizumab) for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In...

Avastin (bevacizumab) is the most popular pharmacological treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in the United States. Over the past 3 years, both Avastin (bevacizumab) and Lucentis (ranibizumab) have emerged as the most common therapies for neovascular AMD as reported by...

Genentech announced today that one of two Phase III studies evaluating monthly Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME), met its primary endpoint. DME is a serious complication of diabetes that affects up to 10 percent of people with the disease and can lead to blurred vision, severe vision loss and blindness....

Streptococcus is isolated much more frequently from endophthalmitis cultures after intravitreal injection (IVI) of antivascular endothelial growth-factor (anti-VEGF) agents than after ocular surgery, results of a meta-analysis show. The new research was presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology 2010 Annual Meeting. Ophthalmologists...