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Bevacizumab may enhance deep sclerectomy IOP-lowering outcomes
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Subconjunctival injection of bevacizumab may enhance IOP-lowering effects of primary deep sclerectomy without the bleb complications that can accompany surgery with mitomycin C, according to a study.
In the retrospective, comparative case-control study, MMC was applied before scleral flap dissection in 32 eyes, and Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) was injected at the end of surgery in 43 eyes.
Complete success was determined as IOP less than 19 mm Hg, a 20% decrease in IOP from baseline and no postoperative medications. Complete success was achieved in 90.7% of eyes in the bevacizumab group at 1 year after surgery and in 76.5% at 2 years. In the MMC group, complete success was achieved in 87.5% at 1 year and in 74.4% at 2 years.
IOP less than 15 mm Hg without medications was maintained in 60.5% of cases at 1 year and in 53.5% at 2 years in the bevacizumab group compared with 65.5% at 1 year and 49.2% at 2 years in the MMC group.
There was no significant difference between success rates of the two groups and few serious complications in either group.
At the final follow-up, two eyes in the MMC group and two eyes in the bevacizumab group needed medications to control IOP.
“The study indicates that subconjunctival bevacizumab, a non-cytotoxic agent, may have similar efficacy to the cytotoxic agent MMC,” the authors said.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.
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