Intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin) in the treatment of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion

Abstract

Juan Carlos Mesa Gutiérrez, Luis Arias Barquet, Josep Maria Caminal Mitjana, Sergi Prades Almolda, Nùria Planas Domènech, Octavi Pujol Goita, Marc Rubio Caso, Jorge Arruga GinebredaDepartment of Ophthalmology, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, SpainObjective: To evaluate efficacy and safety of intravitreal injections of bevacizumab in the treatment of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).Methods: Prospective study, noncomparative, interventional case series. Twelve consecutive patients (12 eyes) with macular edema associated with nonischemic retinal vein occlusion were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab (1.25 mg). All subjects underwent standardized ophthalmic evaluation at baseline and at weeks 1, 4, 12, and 24, consisting of visual acuity (VA) measurement using ETDRS charts, and imaging with ocular coherence tomography evaluating changes in foveal thickness (FT) and macular volume (MV).Results: The median age was 66 years (± 4.16), and the median duration of symptoms was 4 months (± 1.81). There were six cases of inferior branch vein occlusion and six cases of superior branch retinal vein occlusion. Mean VA improved from 1.32 ± 0.24 (logMAR values) at baseline to 0.8 ± 0.15 (p = 0.0003) at the 6-month follow-up. The macular edema responded promptly, and a trend to restoration of normal macular anatomy was observed at by the seventh day. Mean FT improved from 615.50 ± 116.29 microns to 420 ± 72.53 microns (p = 0.001), and the mean MV improved from 19.81 ± 2.31mm3 to 9.23 ± 1.38 (p = 0.0001) at the 6-month follow-up.Keywords: Bevacizumab, retinal vein occlusion, intravitreal injection, vascular endothelial growth factor