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Primary Intravitreal Bevacizumab (Avastin) for Diabetic Macular Edema: Results of a Multicenter Collaborative Study Group
Diabetic Retinopathy Highlights from Retina/Vitreous Free Papers
| Sunday, November 12, 2006 |
| J Fernando Arevalo, MD, Jans Fromow-Guerra, MD, Hugo Quiroz-Mercado, MD, Juan G Sanchez, MD, Lihteh Wu, MD, Michel Eid Fara, MD, Mauricio Maia, MD, Maria H Berrocal, MD; Pan-American Collaborative Retina Study Group, PACORES
Dramatically improved retinal structure and visual acuity following intravitreal bevacizumab injections in eyes with persistent or untreatable vascular retinal disease have been widely, albeit anecdotally, described following Philip Rosenfeld’s pioneering case report. Numerous independent groups of investigators from around the globe are now studying bevacizumab for diabetic macular edema (DME) in clinical trials to establish its safety and efficacy.
Dr Arevalo reported 6-month results of a nonrandomized, uncontrolled retrospective trial conducted at 11 centers in 8 Latin American countries. This study is noteworthy for its large Hispanic constituency (79.7%) relative to other studies of intravitreal bevacizumab. 82 eyes of 72 consecutive patients were evaluated at a mean follow up of 12.7±4.9 weeks. Durable effects were noted at 1, 3, and 6 months. The mean baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was logMAR=-0.83 (~20/130); the mean final BCVA was logMAR=-0.59 (~20/80; P=.0001). The mean central macular thickness decreased significantly as determined by optical coherence tomography (OCT) (P=.0001). No systemic or ocular adverse events were noted. This study suggests that intravitreal bevacizumab stabilizes or improves BCVA, OCT, and fluorescein angiography in patients with DME.
Dr Haller asked whether any of the patients had active proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Dr Arevalo replied that some did, others did not. |
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