ABSTRACT
Introduction: Bevacizumab [Avastin] is considered as an effective strategy in the treatment of various ocular diseases. As a vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] inhibitor, Avastin is used to control macular edema in patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy [NPDR]. Therefore, in this study, we systematically reviewed the effects of intravitreal bevacizumab injections on nonproliferative stage of diabetic retinopathy
Methods: Scopus and PubMed were systematically searched to find articles in which the effect of Avastin [bevacizumab] had been evaluated in nonproliferative stage of diabetic retinopathy. Literature search was performed using "Avastin OR bevacizumab", "nonproliferative stage" and "diabetic retinopathy" as keyterms in the title, keywords, and abstract
Result: All 47 articles were found in all databases, two additional records were found through reference list screening, and only 10 articles were relevant to the purpose of this study. According to the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 39 articles were excluded in several step processes of article selection. The results revealed that intravitreal injection of bevacizumab could be safely used to treat various ocular disease, particularly NPDR stage of diabetic retinopathy with macular edema
Discussion: Bevacizumab is considered as a novel and effective modality in the treatment of various ocular diseases such as retinal neovascularization, neovascular glaucoma, macular edema, and other ocular complications. Findings also suggested that bevacizumab is a suitable therapeutic approach in clinical use
Conclusion: According to the results of included documents, intravitreal injection of bevacizumab could be considered as a promising treatment modality in the clinical management of NPDR stage of diabetic retinopathy