Compassionate Use of Intravitreal Pegaptanib in Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Abstract

The study aim was to evaluate the short-term safety and efficacy of pegaptanib sodium injections (Macugen, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., New York, NY) in the compassionate-use therapy of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Intravitreal pegaptanib was used to treat 41 eyes in 40 patients with CNV. Injections were given every 6 weeks, and a minimum of three injections were planned. The mean change in BCVA for all lesions was a loss of 0.03 Snellen lines. Seven eyes (17.1%) gained more than 3 lines, three (7.31%) lost 6 lines or more, and in 75.6% the BCVA stabilized or improved.

KEYWORDS::

• pegaptanib
• choroidal neovascularization
• VEGF inhibitors

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.