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Preop bevacizumab injection boosts IOP reduction achieved by surgery for neovascular glaucoma
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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Administering bevacizumab to patients with neovascular glaucoma before they undergo surgery appears effective for improving the reduction in IOP, according to a surgeon speaking here.
At the annual meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists, Rohit Ross Lakhanpal, MD, presented the results of a retrospective study of 112 consecutive eyes treated for neovascular glaucoma. All eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy, laser photocoagulation and Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation (New World Medical).
Of the 112 total eyes, 48 eyes were injected with Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) 3 to 10 days before surgery and 64 eyes received no prior treatment with bevacizumab.
"All injections were fairly well tolerated with no endophthalmitis," Dr. Lakhanpal said.
All patients were followed for 6 months postoperatively.
Dr. Lakhanpal found that almost 60% of bevacizumab-treated patients had a reduction in IOP, compared with approximately 40% of patients who did not receive bevacizumab before surgery.
"In terms of probability of success, we found — as you would expect — that with [bevacizumab], patients were stabile for quite a bit longer," Dr. Lakhanpal said.
Precise dosing has yet to be determined, he noted.