Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate the toxicity and effect of intravitreal injection of bevacizumab on the retina in patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) using electroretinogram (ERG).
Methods: :
Six patients (mean age, 66.0±5.3 years) with unilateral CRVO were presented. All the patients signed a written consent statement particularly in the regard to the off-label use of intravitreal injection of bevacizumab. Intravitreal injection of bevacizumab (1.0mg/0.04mL) was given to the affected eye. Before and 1, 2, 4 weeks after the intravitreal injection, ERG recordings including flash, scotopic, photopic, flicker ERGs, and on/off responses were performed on both eyes. Amplitudes and implicit times in every component of the ERGs were measured and assessed.
Results: :
Of the six patients, two patients with impending CRVO showed supernormal flash ERG initially and an improvement for the affected eye one week after the intravitreal injection. The amplitudes of photopic negative response (PhNR) in the affected eyes were smaller than those in the fellow eyes in all six patients. No significant changes were found in other ERG components during observation.
Conclusions: :
Electrophysiolosically, no retinal toxicity by intravitreal injection of bevacizumab was shown in patients with CRVO. In the early stage of CRVO, intravitreal injection of bevacizumab may improve the retinal circulation of the affected eye. Small PhNR indicates disturbance of inner layer of the retina.
Clinical Trial: :
www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm now processing
Keywords: electrophysiology: clinical