Abstract
Purpose:
Central Serous Chorioretinopathy (CSC) is characterized by serous neurosensory retinal detachment caused by leakage from the retinal pigment epithelium. Although CSC is usually self limiting, persistent subretinal fluid is associated with reduced visual acuity. Recently intravitreal bevacizumab has been used successfully to treat CSC in the short term but there is limited evidence about the long term effects. The purpose or our study was to report the 1-year follow up results from the first bevacizumab injenction for the treatment of CSC.
Methods:
A retrospective review of patients treated for chronic CSC (at least 10 month duration) with intravitreal Bevacizumab in our unit was performed. Patients who had at least 12 months follow up from the first intravitreal injection of Bevacizumab were included in the study. All eyes that received laser treatment or Photodynamic Therapy in the past as treatment for CSC were excluded. The patients were reviewed every 4 weeks following the first intravitreal injection. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography was performed at every follow up visit. The presence of subretinal fluid was an indication for retreatment. Best-corrected visual acuity and central macular thickness were compared between baseline and 1 year after the first injection.
Results:
Six eyes of 5 patients had at least 12 month follow up following the first intravetreal Bevacizumab injection. The mean number of injection administered during the 12 months was 6 (SD 2.8). The mean visual acuity on presentation was 53.8 (SD 24.2) and 70.7 (SD 8.2) at 12 months resulting in a mean change of 16.83 letters.(P=0.10) . Mean reduction in central macular thickness was 80.33 microns (P =0.09). All treated eyes had stable or improved vision after 12 months. Injection-related complications were not encountered during the follow up.
Conclusions:
Our study indicated that intravitreal injection of Bevacizumab is successful in maintaining vision and reducing serous retinal detachment in patients with chronic CSC, as evaluated at a 1-year follow-up examination. This study is limited by the few cases and its retrospective nature but it is one of the studies that report 12 month follow up results from intravitreal Bevacizumab for the treatment of CSC.
Keywords: 585 macula/fovea •
550 imaging/image analysis: clinical •
754 visual acuity