J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2009 Feb;50(2):219-226. 10.3341/jkos.2009.50.2.219.

Short-term Safety and Efficacy of Intravitreal Bavacizumab Injection

• Kim SJ
• Park YM
• Lee SU
• Lee JE
• Oum BS

• KMID: 2212050
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2009.50.2.219

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate the short-term safety and efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin(R)) injection for various conditions.
METHODS
The medical records of 257 eyes of 251 patients who underwent intravitreal bevacizumab injections were reviewed. Central retinal thickness on optical coherence tomography and visual acuity before injections, at 1 week, 1 month, 2 months and 3 months after injections were analyzed.
RESULTS
The patients included age-related macular degeneration (89 eyes), diabetic macular edema (67 eyes) and retinal vascular occlusion (57 eyes). The number of injections was twice in 82 eyes, 3 times in 23 eyes and 4 times in 2 eyes. In total, 391 injections were performed. Best corrected visual acuity increased significantly at 3 months (p=0.033) and central retinal thickness decreased by 1 month and was maintained until 3 months after the first injection (p<0.001). No serious drug-related ocular or systemic adverse incidents including endophthalmitis, glaucoma, retinal detachment, hypertension or myocardial infarction were identified.
CONCLUSIONS
The intravitreal bevacizumab injection was safe and efficient for macular edema in this short-term study.

Keyword

Bevacizumab; Efficacy; Safety

MeSH Terms

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Endophthalmitis
Eye
Glaucoma
Humans
Hypertension
Macular Degeneration
Macular Edema
Medical Records
Myocardial Infarction
Retinal Detachment
Retinaldehyde
Tomography, Optical Coherence
Visual Acuity
Bevacizumab
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Retinaldehyde

Figure

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  Figure 1. Changes in best corrected visual acuity through 3 months; AMD=age-related macular degeneration; RVO=retinal vascular occlusion; DME=diabetic macular edema; PCV=polypoid choroidal vasculopathy.

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  Figure 2. Frequency distribution of changes in visual acuity in different diseases; AMD=age-related macular degeneration; RVO=retinal vascular occlusion; DME= diabetic macular edema; PCV=polypoid choroidal vasculopathy.

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  Figure 3. Changes in central retinal thickness through 3 months; AMD=age-related macular degeneration; RVO=retinal vascular occlusion; DME=diabetic macular edema; PCV=polypoid choroidal vasculopathy.

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  Figure 4. Changes in best corrected visual acuity and macular thickness on OCT for 3 months after injection of bevacizumab according to number of injection.

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  Figure 5. Changes in best corrected visual acuity and macular thickness on OCT for 3 months after injection of bevacizumab according to the dose.

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  Figure 6. A case of subfoveal classic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in age-related macular degeneration.(A) Fluorescein angiography (FA) image at baseline shows hyperfluorescent leakage. Best corrected visual acuity was 0.16. (B) Optical coherence tomography (OCT) image demonstrates CNV lesion and retinal edema. Central retinal thickness was 311 µm. (C) At postinjection 3 months, leakage decreased on FA image. (D) Retinal edema was resolved on OCT. Central retinal thickness was 159 µm. Visual acuity was unchanged as 0.16.

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  Figure 7. A case of branched retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). (A) Fluorescein angiography (FA) image at the first visit before treatment shows venous occlusion at superior vascular arcade. Best corrected visual acuity was 0.16(B) Optical coherence tomography (OCT) image demonstrates multiple cystic edema of the macula. Central retinal thickness was 660 µm. (C) FA image after intravitreal triamcinolone injection and grid/focal laser treatment. (D) OCT image demonstrates preexisting macular edema. Central retinal thickness was 440 µm. (E) At 3 months after Avastin injection, FA image shows no leakage. (F) Central retinal thickness at month 3 was 214 µm, cystoid macular edema subsided. Visual acuity improved to 0.32.

Reference

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