Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination

    Retina. 2008 May;28(5):675-81.

    Intravitreal injection of bevacizumab combined with verteporfin photodynamic therapy for choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration.

    Smith BT, Dhalla MS, Shah GK, Blinder KJ, Ryan EH Jr, Mittra RA.

    Barnes Retina Institute, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

    PURPOSE: To report the outcome for eyes treated with intravitreal injection of bevacizumab combined with verteporfin photodynamic therapy (PDT) for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). STUDY DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: Interventional, consecutive, retrospective case series including 40 eyes of 40 patients with newly diagnosed juxtafoveal or subfoveal CNV secondary to AMD. METHODS: The charts of patients treated with a 1.25-mg intravitreal injection of bevacizumab followed by PDT within a 2-week period were reviewed. Main outcome measures were visual acuity stabilization (defined as no change or a gain in visual acuity) and need for retreatment. RESULTS: Thirty-three (83%) of 40 eyes had stabilization of visual acuity. Mean improvement in visual acuity was 1.73 lines. Twenty-six eyes (65%) required only a single intravitreal injection of bevacizumab combined with PDT. Of the 23 eyes with 12 months of follow-up, 17 (74%) had stabilization of visual acuity, while 9 (40%) had improvement in visual acuity (mean, 1.22 Snellen lines). Eleven eyes (48%) required only a single combined treatment for CNV resolution at the 12-month follow-up. Fifteen (88%) of 17 eyes with only 6 months of follow-up required only a single combined treatment. There were no complications such as endophthalmitis, uveitis, or ocular hypertension. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that eyes treated with both intravitreal injection of bevacizumab and PDT require none to a minimal number of re-treatments to have stabilization of vision, even at 12 months of follow-up. Further investigation with large controlled trials is warranted to outline the appropriate treatment paradigm for combination therapy.

    PMID: 18463509 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    Supplemental Content

    Patient drug information

    • Bevacizumab Injection (Avastin®)

      Bevacizumab is used with chemotherapy to treat cancer of the colon (large intestine) or rectum that has spread to other parts of the body. Bevacizumab is also used with chemotherapy to treat certain types of lung cancer....

    • Verteporfin Injection (Visudyne®)

      Verteporfin injection is used in combination with photodynamic therapy (PDT; treatment with a laser light) to treat abnormal growth of leaky blood vessels in the eye caused by wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD; a...