Combination Therapy for Neovascular Age Related Macular Degeneration

Exudative age related macular degeneration (ARMD) is most common cause of blindness in old population. It is clear that no single therapy addresses the multifactorial pathogenesis of the disease. Recently, studies of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapies such as pegaptanib and bevacizumab have shown the beneficial effect in visual acuity in the treatment of neovascular ARMD. However, the problem with these intravitreal injections is that therapy must be frequently administered for a prolonged but unknown period of time to maintain the benefit. Prolonged, frequent injections may be associated with additional safety risk,lack of convenience and high treatment cost. Intravitreal steroid injection with anti-inflammatory properties limits any further VEGF upregulation initiated by the inflammation which has been known as one of the pathogenesis and causes of recurrence after the treatment of the neovascular ARMD. The researchers hypothesize that the combined treatment of intravitreal bevacizumab and triamcinolone acetonide may decrease the recurrence rate after the treatment and obviate the frequent intravitreal injections in the treatment of neovascular ARMD. In this study, the researchers will compare the recurrence rate of combined treatment of intravitreal bevacizumab and triamcinolone acetonide versus intravitreal bevacizumab alone in the treatment of neovascular ARMD.