Intravitreal Injection of 2.5 mg Bevacizumab for Treatment of Myopic Choroidal Neovascularization in Treatment-Naive Cases: A 2-Year Follow-Up

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab in treatment-naive patients with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to pathologic myopia over a 2-year interval. Methods: Patients diagnosed with myopic CNV who had not received previous treatment were given intravitreal injections of bevacizumab (2.5mg/0.1mL). All patients were retrospectively evaluated using best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) measured with optical coherence tomography (OCT). Results: Twenty-six eyes of 26 patients aged 15-81 years (mean, 42.6 years) were enrolled. OCT images demonstrated that the mean CMT +/- standard deviation (SD) significantly changed from 270 +/- 47 mu m at baseline to 228 +/- 35, 218 +/- 35, 212 +/- 25, 210 +/- 29, and 209 +/- 30 mu m in the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 12th, and 24th post-treatment months, respectively (P < 0.001 for all). The BCVA in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution +/- SD significantly changed from 0.75 +/- 0.43 at baseline to 0.57 +/- 0.44, 0.42 +/- 0.44, 0.39 +/- 0.47, 0.41 +/- 0.44, and 0.42 +/- 0.41 in the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 12th, and 24th post-treatment months, respectively (P < 0.001 for all). The mean number of injections was 1.69 (range, 1-4) within the 24-month period. The follow-up period ranged from 24 to 35 months (mean, 28 months). No other ocular or systemic adverse effects were observed. Conclusions: Although the present study lacked a control group, the results in this small series of patients over the 2-year follow-up period indicate that intravitreal injection of 2.5mg bevacizumab is effective and safe in patients with myopic CNV.