ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To evaluate the short-term effect of intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin(R)) in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. METHODS: Intravitreal Avastin(R) was injected into 13 eyes of 13 patients with PCV in this retrospective, interventional case study. The follow-up period lasted over 3 months after therapy. Changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), foveal height determined by optical coherence tomography, and abnormal vasculature in indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean LogMAR BCVA was 0.82 at baseline, 0.78 at 1 month after treatment, and 0.73 at 3 months after treatment. Visual acuity was stabilized or improved in 13 eyes (100%). The mean foveal height was 288 micrometer at baseline, 231 micrometer (p<0.05) at 1 month after treatment, and 196 micrometer at 3 months after treatment. The polypoidal lesions in ICGA decreased in 4 eyes (31%), although branching vasculature in ICGA was unchanged in 13 eyes (100%). CONCLUSIONS: Intravitreal injection of Avastin(R) may stabilize visual acuity and reduce macular edema due to decreased retinal pigment epithelial detachment and leaking. However, intravitreal injection had a minimal effect in occlusion of the symptomatic polypoidal lesions and no effect in occlusion of the branching vascular network.