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Intravitreal bevacizumab for choroidal neovascularisation in serpiginous choroiditis
  1. M Battaglia Parodi1,
  2. P Iacono2,
  3. C La Spina1,
  4. K A Knutsson1,
  5. A Mansour3,
  6. J F Arevalo4,5,
  7. F Bandello1
  1. 1Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, Scientific Institute San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
  2. 2Department of Ophthalmology, Fondazione G. B. Bietti per l'Oftalmologia, IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), Rome, Italy
  3. 3Department of Ophthalmology, American University of Beirut, Rafic Hariri University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon
  4. 4The Retina Division, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  5. 5The King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Pierluigi Iacono, Department of Ophthalmology, Fondazione G. B. Bietti per l'Oftalmologia, IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), Via Livenza 3, Rome 00198, Italy; pierluigi.iacono{at}libero.it

Abstract

Purpose To assess the effects of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) in the treatment of choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) secondary to serpiginous choroiditis (SC).

Design Non-randomised, interventional case series.

Participants Seven patients (seven eyes) affected by juxtafoveal CNV (six eyes) and subfoveal CNV (one eye) associated with SC were recruited.

Methods Each patient underwent an ophthalmological examination, including measurement of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). After a first IVB injection (1.25 mg), patients were evaluated monthly over a 12-month follow-up. Further re-treatments were performed on the basis of detection of any type of fluid on OCT and/or presence of leakage on FA. The primary outcome considered was the median change in BCVA, as well as the proportion of eyes gaining at least 5 and 10 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters at the end of the 12-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes included median changes in central macular thickness (CMT) and number of injections over the planned follow-up.

Results Median BCVA changed from 0.3 to 0.4 LogMAR. A functional improvement of at least 5 and 10 ETDRS letters was obtained in two eyes (28%) and one eye (14%), respectively, at the 12-month examination. Four eyes (57%) had stable BCVA, whereas one eye (14%) experienced a two-line decrease. Median CMT at baseline was 261 μm, decreasing to 196 μm at the 12-month examination. The median number of IVB injections was 1 in 12 months.

Conclusions IVB can achieve anatomical stabilisation of CNV secondary to SC, avoiding a decline in visual acuity, in almost 90% of cases over a 12-month follow-up.

  • Retina
  • Neovascularisation

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