Intravitreal bevacizumab for neovascular myopic maculopathy

Abstract

Purpose : Pathological myopia is observed in about 2% of the general population. Submacular choroidal neovascularization is a leading cause of severe visual loss and blindness in eyes with pathological myopia, affecting 4-11% of those eyes.Purpose: Our aim isT to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal bevacizumab in the treatment of neovascular myopic maculopathy.

Methods : 22 non-previously treated eyes of 22 consecutive patients with neovascular myopic maculopathy were treated with monthly intravitreal injections of bevacizumab and followed up for 12 months. Changes in BCVA and central macular thickness were evaluated at 12 months of follow-up. All patients were evaluated and treated by the same physician. Wilcoxon test for paired variables, Mann Whitney for independent variables, and Student test for continuous variables, were used for statistical analysis.

Results : Mean age was 54.45± (SD 12.30; (r= 28.00 – 79.00); 7 patients (31.8%) were male and 15 (68.2%) female. Mean spherical equivalent refractive error was -10.89±4.13 (r= -7.00 to -21,00) Mean time elapsed between initial symptoms and the beginning of treatment was 38.68± (SD34.63) days. Patients received a mean of 4.27± (SD 1.86; ( r=2.00 to 9.00) injections. Most injections were performed during the first 6 months of treatment (mean 3.36±1.22 months; SD 1.22; r=1.00 to 6.00). Median BCVA at baseline was 1.00 (P25-75=0.40-1.00) and at 12 months 0.45 (P25-75=0.30-0.70) (p<0.0001). Significant visual improvement was observed between the first (median=1.00, IQR= 0.6) and the third month of treatment (median=0.60, IQR=0.6) (p=0.0002), with no further significant improvement (p=0.09). No ocular or systemic side effects attributable to treatment were observed.

Conclusions : Bevacizumab was effective and safe in our series of myopic patients with neovascular maculopathy, and visual gain remained stable during follow-up.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.