Three-monthly intravitreal bevacizumab injections for neovascular age-related macular degeneration: short-term visual...

To evaluate the change in vision after 3 monthly consecutive intravitreal injections of 1.25 mg of bevacizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

A retrospective analysis of 35 eyes was performed. Visual acuity (VA) at initial visit and at each follow-up visit was compared. The injection of bevacizumab was performed at 30-day intervals and patients were observed for 5 months after the last injection.

Of the 35 eyes, 9 had received previous treatment with photodynamic therapy with or without 4 mg of intravitreal triamcinolone. VA was measured in Snellen table and transformed into logMAR for statistical purposes. Mean age was 76.66 years (range, 49-90 years). There were 24 (69%) women and 11 (31%) men. Mean VA at the initial visit was 0.92 +/- 0.50. At month 1, mean VA was 0.84 +/- 0.51 and at month 2 was 0.74 +/- 0.51. At month 3, mean VA remained 0.74 +/- 0.49. Six and 8 months after the initial visit, VA was 0.79 +/- 0.49 and 0.77 +/- 0.50, respectively. The improvement in VA was statistically significant at month 2 and at the end of the follow-up (8 months) compared with the baseline VA.

Three consecutive monthly injections of intravitreal bevacizumab to treat neovascular AMD is effective in improving VA in the short-term. Longer prospective studies should be performed to confirm VA stability after the third injection.