Adjunctive intravitreal bevacizumab with vitrectomy for diabetic vitreous hemorrhage

ABSTRACT

Background: Postoperative vitreous hemorrhage [VH] following pars plana vitrectomy [PPV] for proliferative diabetic retinopathy [PDR] is a common event, with a reported incidence of 29% to 75%.This complication delays visual rehabilitation, interferes with fundus examination, and may necessitate additional surgical procedures. Vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] is an angiogenic mitogen, and the involvement of VEGF in PDR has been suggested by studies that have demonstrated that VEGF concentrations were markedly elevated in both vitreous and aqueous fluids of patients with active PDR compared with samples from patients without diabetes, with NPDR, or with quiescent PDR. Bevacizumab [Avastin[R], Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA] is a full-length recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to all isoforms of VEGF