Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab in the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV), in patients with pathological myopia, unresponsive to photodynamic therapy (PDT).
Methods: :
Retrospective chart review of 20 consecutive patients treated with intravitreal (IVT) bevacizumab (1.25 mg) for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization due to pathological myopia between February 2006 and October 2007. All patients were previously treated with PDT. Recurrence of CNV was confirmed by fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography. Outcome measures included visual acuity (VA), retinal thickness with OCT, and degree of leakage on fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography.
Results: :
Twenty eyes of twenty patients were included. The mean age was 54.9 years (range 32-78). All patients were previously treated with PDT. The baseline mean VA was 2.6/10, the final VA was 3.9/10 with a mean follow up of 15.18 months (range 10-19). Overall, in 15 out of 20 (75%) eyes the CNV was successfully closed at last follow up visit. Seven of 20 eyes (35%) received 1 bevacizumab IVT, seven (35%) 2 injection, five (25%) 4 injection and 1 eye (5%) received 5 IVT. All eyes (14), that received 1 or 2 treatments, had angiographic closure of lesion and 1 eye undergoing 4 bevacizumab injections had the same result.There were no systemic or ocular complications.
Conclusions: :
In this small series of CNV due to pathological myopia intravitreal bevacizumab showed a good efficacy and safety. Further clinical trials are needed to evaluate a larger number of patient and a long-term follow up.
Keywords: choroid: neovascularization • myopia • injection