Intravitreal ranibizumab in retinal macroaneurysm

Purpose

To present the effect of intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis®) therapy in a patient suffering from retinal macroaneurysm.

Methods

Case report. An 82-year-old female patient was diagnosed with retinal macroaneurysm of the inferior temporal artery with macular edema. Functional and morphological data at baseline and at 4 weeks, 3 months, and 5 months after the initiation of therapy with two intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis®) injections followed by focal argon laser coagulation surrounding the retinal macroaneurysm are presented.

Results

Best-corrected visual acuity improved from 20/50 at baseline to 20/20 at 3-month follow-up and maintained stable at 20/25 through 5-month follow-up. Central retinal thickness measured by optical coherence tomography decreased from 510 µm at baseline to 148 µm at 5-month follow-up. Fluorescein angiography demonstrated closure of the retinal macroaneurysm at 6-week follow-up. No ocular or systemic side effects were detected.

Conclusions

Intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis®) therapy may close the retinal macroaneurysm leading to resolution of the associated macular edema and consequently visual improvement. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a retinal macroaneurysm benefiting from treatment with intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis®). The observed results warrant further investigation.