Abstract
Purpose::
To report our short-term experience with intravitreal bevacizumab in the treatment of retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
Methods::
This study is a retrospective interventional case series of 13 patients who received 1.25 mg of intravitreal bevacizumab for RAP and completed twelve weeks of follow up. Ophthalmic assessment included best corrected Snellen visual acuity (BCVA), a complete ocular examination, fluorescein angiography (FA), and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Injections were repeated only if no further improvement or worsening was observed after an initial favorable functional and/or anatomical response. Main outcome measures were BCVA and OCT central macular thickness (CMT) twelve weeks following initial treatment.
Results::
The average BCVA improved from 20/203 at baseline to 20/113 at twelve weeks (p= .001). Twelve (92.3%) eyes had stable or improved BCVA and eight (61.5%) experienced at least two lines of improvement. Average CMT improved from 366 µm at baseline to 195 µm (p= 0.012) and 308 µm (p= 0.014) at eight and twelve weeks respectively. Seven eyes (77.8%) had improved CMT. Both stabilization of vision and improved CMT were maintained for at least eight weeks following only a single injection in the majority of eyes. During the three months follow up less than a third (30.8%) of the eyes required repeat injections. No significant ocular or systemic side effects were observed.
Conclusions::
This short term data suggests that bevacizumab appears to be a viable treatment option for RAP in AMD. Initial treatment effect appears to be maintained for at least eight weeks.
Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: treatment/prevention assessment/controlled clinical trials