Intravitreal anti-VEGF effectively treats subfoveal CNV related to AMD

Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2009;247(8):1031-1037.

Intravitreal bevacizumab injections proved effective in treating subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration, a study showed.

"The CNV lesion treated with [intravitreal bevacizumab] didn't disappear in either group, but showed less exudation, demonstrated by a decrease in the area of leakage from CNV, subretinal fluid area and center point retinal thickness on [optical coherence tomography]," the study authors said.

The prospective study included 60 eyes with classic CNV and 96 eyes with occult CNV. Patients received an initial 1.25-mg intravitreal injection of Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) at baseline and a reinjection at least 4 weeks later. Follow-up data were collected for 12 months.

Study data showed more improvement in best corrected visual acuity among the classic CNV group than the occult CNV group. However, the difference was not statistically significant. The area of CNV and subretinal fibrous tissue/disciform scar was stable in both groups. Macular thickness diminished significantly in both groups.

The hyper-reflective area of the neovascular complex was stable in both groups in the first 6 months. However, hyper-reflective lesions grew slightly in the subsequent 6 months, the authors said.