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Ultra-low dose of intravitreal bevacizumab in retinopathy of prematurity

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Abstract

Aim

We aimed to investigate the effectivity of the 0.0625 mg dose of bevacizumab in patients with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and compare the results with 0.625 mg dose of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injection.

Methods

The medical records of the patients with type 1 ROP who received IVB monotherapy were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded. The patients were classified into two groups with respect to received dose of bevacizumab as follows: group F (n = 46) (full dose of bevacizumab—0.625 mg/0.025 ml) and group L (n = 45) (low dose (one tenth) of bevacizumab—0.0625 mg/0.025 ml).

Results

Both treatment dose regimens have similar outcomes. Moreover, the mean retinal vascularization time seemed to be significantly higher in group F compared to group L, 168 ± 65 and 97 ± 29 days, respectively (p < 0.001). Disappearance of plus sign is observed earlier in group F (2.45 ± 1.7 vs 3.66 ± 2.46 days, respectively, p = 0.03).

Conclusions

The low dose (0.0625 mg) of IVB treatment was effective as full (0.625 mg) dose in ROP treatment. Moreover, our results showed that low-dose treatment might provide faster retinal vascularization than the regular used dose. On the other hand, disappearance of the plus sign takes longer time in patients treated with low dose compared to eyes treated with full dose of IVB that should be taken into account.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Batman Private Hospital, Batman, Turkey

    A. Şahin

  2. School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey

    Z. Gürsel-Özkurt & M. Şahin

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Batman Zilan Hospital, Batman, Turkey

    F. M. Türkcü

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, Yeni Hayat Hospital, Osmaniye, Turkey

    A. Yıldırım

  5. Frelance Physician, Diyarbakır, Turkey

    H. Yüksel

Authors
  1. A. Şahin
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  2. Z. Gürsel-Özkurt
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  3. M. Şahin
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  4. F. M. Türkcü
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  5. A. Yıldırım
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  6. H. Yüksel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Şahin.

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Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Şahin, A., Gürsel-Özkurt, Z., Şahin, M. et al. Ultra-low dose of intravitreal bevacizumab in retinopathy of prematurity. Ir J Med Sci 187, 417–421 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-017-1684-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-017-1684-y

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