a study evaluating dosing regimens for treatment with intravitreal ranibizumab injections in subjects with macular edema following retinal vein occlusion

Conditions: Macular Edema

Summary: this was a phase iv multicenter, randomized, open-label study, with masking of the vision examiner, of the efficacy and safety of intravitreal ranibizumab 0.5 mg in subjects with macular edema following branch retinal vein occlusion (brvo) or central retinal vein occlusion (crvo).

this study consisted of 2 study periods, a 7-month fixed treatment period, followed by an 8-month alternate dose regimen period. subjects could receive up to a maximum of 15 monthly injections of ranibizumab 0.5 mg during the study, 7 injections (day 0 and at 6 monthly visits) in the fixed treatment period and a maximum of 8 injections in the alternate dose regimen period. during the fixed treatment period, subjects received 7 monthly intravitreal ranibizumab 0.5 mg injections. during the alternate dose regimen period, from month 7 through month 14, subjects were evaluated monthly to determine whether they achieved the study-specific visual acuity and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (va-oct) stability criteria. subjects continued to receive monthly ranibizumab 0.5 mg monthly injections until the va-oct stability criteria were first met. upon meeting the va-oct stability criteria for the first time during the alternate dose regimen period, subjects were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to one of 2 dose regimens, the prn (pro re nata, "as-needed") or the monthly regimen. prn randomized subjects: subjects received no injection at the randomization visit and at future monthly visits where the va-oct stability criteria were met and received a ranibizumab 0.5 mg injection at future monthly visits if the va-oct stability criteria were not met. monthly randomized subjects: subjects continued to receive ranibizumab 0.5 mg injections at each monthly visit. monthly non-randomized subjects: subjects who did not meet the va-oct stability criteria at any month from month 7 through month 14 were not randomized and received 8 monthly intravitreal ranibizumab 0.5 mg injections.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * for sexually active women of childbearing potential, use of an appropriate form of contraception (or abstinence) for the duration of the study. ocular inclusion criteria (study eye) * foveal center-involved macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (brvo) (including hemi-retinal retinal vein occlusion \[hrvo\]) or central retinal vein occlusion (crvo). * best corrected visual acuity (bcva) using early treatment diabetic retinopathy study (etdrs) charts of 20/40 to 20/320 (snellen equivalent) in the study eye. * mean central subfield thickness \> 300 µm on 2 spectral-domain optical coherence tomography measurements (screening and day 0 \[first day of treatment\]). exclusion criteria: * history of cerebral vascular accident or myocardial infarction within 3 months prior to day 0. * history of any systemic anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf) or pro-vegf treatment within 6 months prior to day 0. * history of allergy to fluorescein. * history of allergy to ranibizumab injection or related molecule. * relevant systemic disease that may be associated with increased systemic vegf levels. history of successfully treated malignancies is not an exclusion criterion. * uncontrolled blood pressure. * pregnancy or lactation. * daily use of oral corticosteroids to treat a chronic condition. * required treatment with injectable corticosteroids to treat a musculoskeletal condition. * participation in an investigational trial within 30 days prior to day 0 that involved treatment with any drug or device that has not received regulatory approval at the time of study entry. ocular exclusion criteria (study eye) * prior episode of retinal vein occlusion (rvo). * brisk afferent pupillary defect. * history of any previous intravitreal anti-vegf therapy for rvo in the study eye. * history of previous therapeutic treatment for rvo, other than anti-vegf therapy, within 4 months prior to the screening visit, including any intraocular corticosteroids. * history of previous surgical treatment for rvo, including radial optic neurotomy or sheathotomy. * history or presence of age-related macular degeneration (amd) (dry form graded as age-related eye disease study \[areds\] stage 2 or higher or wet form). * history of laser photocoagulation for macular edema within 4 months prior to day 0. * history of panretinal scatter photocoagulation or sector laser photocoagulation within 4 months prior to day 0 or anticipated within the next 4 months following day 0. * history of pars plana vitrectomy. * history of intraocular surgery within 2 months prior to day 0 or anticipated within the next 7 months following day 0. * history of yttrium-aluminum-garnet (yag) capsulotomy performed within 2 months prior to day 0. * previous filtration surgery in the study eye. * history of herpetic ocular infection. * history of ocular toxoplasmosis. * history of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. * history of idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy. * evidence upon examination of vitreoretinal interface disease either on clinical examination or spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (sd-oct), thought to be contributing to macular edema. * presence of an ocular condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, might affect macular edema or alter visual acuity during the study. * visually significant hemorrhage obscuring the fovea and felt to be a major contributor to reduced visual acuity. the subject should be followed and when the hemorrhage in the fovea clears to the point that it is no longer a major contributor to reduced visual acuity, the subject may be screened for the study. * presence of a substantial cataract that, in the opinion of the investigator, is likely to be decreasing visual acuity by 3 lines or more. * intra-ocular pressure (iop) ≥ 30 mmhg. if a subject's iop is ≥ 30 mmhg, that subject will be referred for glaucoma treatment and may be re-screened after 1 month. * evidence upon examination of pseudoexfoliation. * aphakia. * evidence upon examination of external ocular infection, including conjunctivitis, chalazion, or significant blepharitis. * evidence upon examination of any diabetic retinopathy, defined as eyes of diabetic patients with more than one microaneurysm outside the area of the vein occlusion (inclusive of both eyes). * other relevant ocular disease that may be associated with increased intraocular vegf levels. * improvement of ≥ 10 letters on best-corrected visual acuity etdrs score between screening and day 0.