Korean J Ophthalmol.  2014 Feb;28(1):32-38. 10.3341/kjo.2014.28.1.32.

Serum Concentration of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor after Bilateral Intravitreal Injection of Bevacizumab

• Wang D
• Choi KS
• Lee SJ

• KMID: 1792092
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/kjo.2014.28.1.32

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study compared serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentration between patients given the bilateral and unilateral intravitreal injections of bevacizumab.
METHODS
In a prospective manner, serum VEGF levels in treatment-naive patients with age-related macular degeneration who underwent bilateral or unilateral intravitreal injections of bevacizumab were investigated. After informed consent, peripheral blood was collected from in patients who underwent bilateral or unilateral intravitreal injection of bevacizumab before and 1 month after the injection. Serum VEGF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay after centrifugation. In addition, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) before and 1 month after the injection were compared between each group.
RESULTS
Twenty patients received bilateral injections (40 eyes) and 20 patients received unilateral injections. The VEGF concentrations (pg/mL) before the bilateral injection were 235.75 +/- 183.16 and 252.53 +/- 233.52 for the unilateral injection. They were significantly reduced to 153.88 +/- 113.26 and 189.42 +/- 251.72 after 1 month, respectively (p = 0.037 and 0.019), which are showing no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.771). And there were no significant intergroup difference in pre- and postoperative BCVA and CRT.
CONCLUSIONS
The bilateral simultaneous intravitreal injection of bevacizumab did not differ greatly from unilateral intravitreal injection in the influence on serum VEGF levels and the therapeutic outcome.

Keyword

Bevacizumab; Intravitreal injections; Vascular endothelial growth factor

MeSH Terms

Angiogenesis Inhibitors/administration & dosage
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/*administration & dosage
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Follow-Up Studies
Intravitreal Injections
Macula Lutea/*pathology
Macular Degeneration/blood/diagnosis/*drug therapy
Prospective Studies
Tomography, Optical
Treatment Outcome
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/antagonists & inhibitors/*blood
Visual Acuity
Angiogenesis Inhibitors
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Mean serum concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and central retinal thickness before and 1 month after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for wet age-related macular degeneration. logMAR = logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution.

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