Does ranibizumab (Lucentis®) change retrobulbar blood flow in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration?

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of intravitreal ranibizumab on retrobulbar blood flow in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS Thirty-one eyes of 30 patients with neovascular AMD were examined prospectively by both color Doppler imaging and fundus fluorescein angiography. Color Doppler imaging was used to measure the maximum and minimum velocities of the central retinal vein, peak systolic/end-diastolic velocities of blood flows, and pulsatility index and resistivity index values in the central retinal artery, nasal/temporal posterior ciliary arteries (NPCA/TPCA) and ophthalmic artery. The t test for paired samples was used for comparing retrobulbar blood flow values before and after intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis®) injection in the study and control groups. RESULTS There was a statistically significant (p < 0.05) difference between the pre-injection and post-injection end-diastolic velocities of the NPCA and TPCA and resistivity index values of TPCA. The other parameters showed no statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION Our results show that intravitreal ranibizumab injection increases retrobulbar blood flow.