Abstract
Purpose: :
The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are effects after unilateral intravitreal administration of bevacizumab on the untreated eye.
Methods: :
The study was reviewed and approved by the institutional ethics board and was performed according to the tenets of the declaration of Helsinki. We screened for patients with bilateral diabetic macular edema confirmed by a retinal thickness greater than 275 µm by optical coherence tomography (OCT), with no Vitreomacular traction and without previous treatment. The eye with less visual acuity was selected to be treated with 2.5mg of intravitreal bevacizumab. At baseline, we recorded visual acuity in ETDRS letters; central retinal thickness and macular volume by OCT. Follow-up visits were scheduled two and four weeks after treatment. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Software, version 10.1.0 (Inc. SPSS Chicago, IL).
Results: :
A total of 13 patients were included in the study. The best corrected visual acuity (mean ± SD) in the untreated eye was 20/40 (34.46 ±17.29 ETDRS letters) at baseline, 20/32 (38.31 ± 14.64) at 2 weeks, and 20/40 (37.38 ± 14.59) at 4 weeks. The central retinal thickness in the untreated eye was 324.77 ± 76.51µm at baseline, 319 ± 75.7 µm at 2 weeks, and 315.54 ± 78.2 µm at 4 weeks. The macular volume in the untreated eye was 8.99 ± 1.2 mm3 at baseline, 9.16 ± 1.26 mm3 at 2 weeks, and 8.99 ± 1.09 mm3 at 4 weeks. There were no statistically significant differences between any of the measurements.
Conclusions: :
Although there was a tendency towards improvement in all measured parameters in the untreated eye, the improvements were not clinically or statistically significant (p > 0.05).
Clinical Trial: :
www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT00496405
Keywords: edema • diabetes • vascular endothelial growth factor