You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Original Article
Intravitreal bevacizumab to treat subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation in highly myopic eyes: 1-year outcome
  1. J M Ruiz-Moreno1,2,
  2. J A Montero2,3,
  3. F Gomez-Ulla4,5,
  4. S Ares5
  1. 1
    Department of Ophthalmology, Castilla La Mancha University, Albacete, Spain
  2. 2
    Alicante Institute of Ophthalmology, VISSUM, Vitreo-Retinal Unit, Alicante, Spain
  3. 3
    Pío del Río Hortega University Hospital, Ophthalmology Unit, Valladolid, Spain
  4. 4
    Technological Institute of Ophthalmology, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
  5. 5
    Complejo Hospitalario Universitario. Santiago de Compostela, Spain
  1. Dr J M Ruiz-Moreno, Departamento de Ciencias Médicas, Facultad de Medicina, Avda de Almansa 14, 02006 Albacete, Spain; josemaria.ruiz{at}uclm.es

Abstract

Aims: The aim of the study was to examine the changes in visual acuity, fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) macular thickness of subfoveal, and juxtafoveal choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) in highly myopic eyes treated by intravitreal bevacizumab.

Methods: The study was a prospective, non-randomised, multicentre, interventional case series. Twenty-nine highly myopic eyes from 28 patients with subfoveal and juxtafoveal CNV were treated by three monthly intravitreal injections of 1.25 mg bevacizumab. Patients were evaluated for best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and OCT at baseline and then monthly for 1 year. FA was performed at baseline, after 3 months, and whenever CNV activity was suspected.

Results: The average age was 50 (SD 15, range 29–82) years. The mean LogMAR BCVA at baseline was 0.55 (SD 0.25, range 0.2–1.0) and 0.38 (SD 0.32, range 0.0–1.2) at 1 year. Sixteen eyes were naïve for treatment and 13 eyes had been previously treated by photodynamic therapy (average 2.5 sessions). Leakage from CNV had ceased in all eyes at month 3. OCT central foveal thickness decreased significantly from 282 (SD 68) μm at baseline to 224 (SD 46) μm at month 12 (p = 0.008, Student t test for paired data). Six eyes needed one re-injection during follow-up at month 4 (one eye), month 6 (four eyes) and month 12 (one eye). Neither ocular nor systemic adverse reactions appeared during follow-up.

Conclusions: The results of this case series suggest that intravitreal bevacizumab seems to be an effective therapeutic procedure to treat subfoveal and juxtafoveal CNV in highly myopic eyes at 1-year follow-up. Further studies are required to verify the efficacy and usefulness of this therapy compared with established treatments for this condition.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.2008.145391

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Funding: This study was supported in part by a grant of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Salud “Patología ocular del envejecimiento, calidad visual y calidad de vida” (RD07/0062).

    • Competing interests: None declared.

    • Ethics approval: Approval for this treatment was obtained from the National Ministry of Health. Individualised approval from the National Ministry of Health was obtained prior to the procedure. This study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.

    • Patient consent: Obtained. Patients were informed about the off-label situation of this therapy and women of child-bearing age were also informed about the possible risks of pregnancy and in utero exposure.