Evaluation of Intravitreal Bevacizumab injection in treatment of diabetic macular edema in eyes with Good visual acuity
Abstract Aims To determine the effect of intravitreous Bevacizumab injection on reducing diabetic macular edema in patients with good vision. Method : This clinical trial was conducted on diabetic patients with centrally involved macular edema and good vision over a period of one and a half year. 22 eyes of 12 patients with a visual acuity of Snellen equivalent of 20/25 or better in the non-proliferative stage with the central macular thickness of more than 300 microns in optical coherence tomography (OCT) were evaluated. In the injection group 1.25 Mg of bevacizumab (Avastin) was injected intravitreally and the control group was followed up. Macular thickness and visual acuity were measured in two groups at first and sixth months after injection. Results Intravitreal bevacizumab was injected in 12 eyes (55%) and 10 patients were followed-up as a control group (45%). The mean central macular thickness was 319 µm at first visit and 301 µm at month six in the treatment group and in the control group it was 318 µm and 328 µm respectively. The mean macular thickness of the treatment group was significantly decreased (p = 0.031), but the difference was not statistically significant between two groups (p = 0.581). The mean visual acuity in the treatment group was 0.045 Log MAR at first visit and 0.033 Log MAR at the sixth month follow up, these values in the control group were 0.1 Log MAR and 0.045 Log MAR respectively and did not differ statistically between the two groups (p = 0.373) Conclusion Although the mean macular thickness was reduced in the treatment group with visual acuity of 20/25 or better but the difference was not significant during follow-up at least in a short period. Therefore, the role of underlying factors other than VEGF alone can be notable in the pathogenesis of the disease.