Peripapillary choroidal thickness after intravitreal ranibizumab injections in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate peripapillary choroidal thickness (CT) in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and to assess whether peripapillary CT is affected by intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (IVR) in eyes with neovascular AMD. METHODS: Peripapillary and subfoveal CT were measured in spectral domain optical coherence tomography images from 39 eyes of neovascular AMD patients and 39 eyes of age-matched controls retrospectively. The patients were treated with 0.5 mg IVR monthly for 3 months and retreated as needed. Peripapillary CT at baseline, 3 months and 6 months was measured at four locations (superior, nasal, inferior and temporal areas). RESULTS: The mean peripapillary and subfoveal baseline CTs of the eyes with neovascular AMD (153.3 ± 45.3 μm and 228.6 ± 78.6 μm) were not different from those of the controls (149.0 ± 42.3 μm and 221.4 ± 54.1 μm; P = 0.665 and P = 0.639, respectively). Subfoveal CT decreased at 3 months (213.8 ± 75.8 μm, P < 0.001) and 6 months (215.1 ± 72.8 μm, P = 0.002) following IVR treatment. Mean peripapillary CT did not show significant changes at 3 months (149.6 ± 43.8 μm, P = 0.156) or 6 months (150.0 ± 43.4 μm, P = 0.187). Subanalysis revealed that only temporal peripapillary CT decreased from baseline (167.1 ± 54.5 μm) to 3 months (159.4 ± 50.8 μm, P = 0.010) and was sustained at 6 months (160.6 ± 49.6, P = 0.026). However, superior, nasal and inferior peripapillary CT did not show significant changes after IVR. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in peripapillary CT after IVR were limited to the macular area. This result may suggest that IVR does not affect CT outside of the macula in the eyes of patients with neovascular AMD. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12886-016-0203-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.