Abstract
Purpose: :
To report the 6 month results of intravitreal Bevacizumab assessed by visual acuity (VA), optical coherence tomography (OCT), electroretinography (ERG) and multifocal ERG (M-ERG).
Methods: :
Twenty-six eyes of 26 patients, all previously treatment-naive, received one or more intravitreal injections with 1.25 mg Bevacizumab in one eye. Ophthalmic outcome measures include changes in ETDRS (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study) VA score, OCT (Zeiss Stratus 3000), ERG and M-ERG (Veris Science 5.2.3X). Follow-up examinations were performed at 1, 6 weeks, 3 and 6 months after the first injection.Mean amplitudes (N1P1) and P1 implicit times of the M-ERG responses of all 6 concentric rings were analyzed.
Results: :
Mean ETDRS VA score improved from 55.1 letters at baseline to 60.2 letters at 1 week (p<0.01) and to 60.8 letters at 6 weeks (p<0.01). No significant improvement from baseline in VA was found after 3 and 6 months, however, mean VA remained stable. Mean macular thickness decreased significantly from baseline to all follow-up examinations (p<0.01). A correlation between visual acuity and macular thickness could not be found. Amplitudes of the M-ERG improved significantly in ring 1, 2 and 5 at 1 week, in ring 1to 5 at 6 weeks and in all rings at 3 and 6 months (p<0.05). P1 implicit time decreased significantly in ring 3 and 4 at 3 and 6 months (p<0.05)
Conclusions: :
The results indicate that 1.25 mg intravitreal Bevacizumab is associated with functional as well as morphological improvements among treatment-naive AMD patients. M-ERG results show no sign of toxicity.
Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • electrophysiology: clinical • drug toxicity/drug effects