Original articleEffects and Complications of Bevacizumab Use in Patients with Retinopathy of Prematurity: A Multicenter Study in Taiwan
Section snippets
Patients and Methods
This is a multicenter, retrospective study of bevacizumab use in patients with ROP. The data were collected from medical centers in 4 cities across Taiwan. These centers included National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, Changhua Christian Hospital in Changhua, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Kaohsiung, and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taoyuan. The study was approved by the institutional review board for each hospital. Each patient's parent or legal guardian signed a consent form before
Results
During the study period, 40 patients received a single bevacizumab injection. Thirteen patients were excluded from the study because of a follow-up time of less than 6 months. In the end, 49 eyes of 27 patients (18 male and 9 female) were included in the study. Six patients were from National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, 5 patients were from Changhua Christian Hospital in Changhua, 10 patients were from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Kaohsiung, and 6 patients were from Chang Gung
Discussion
This study found that IVB (0.625 mg), used either as a primary treatment or salvage treatment after laser treatment, caused neovascularization to regress and resulted in full retinal vascularization in the majority of patients with stage 3 ROP. In advanced ROP with retinal detachment, the treatment benefits of bevacizumab are less evident than in stage 3 ROP. The plus sign decreased after injection, and no active bleeding was noted during vitrectomy surgery. However, fibrotic traction on the
Study Limitations
The limitations of this study include its retrospective nature and the lack of a concomitant control group. Also, fundus photographs were not available in all study centers. Finally, laser treatment was allowed if a response was not observed in 2 to 3 weeks. Nonetheless, to our knowledge, this study is the largest case series of bevacizumab use in the treatment of ROP ever reported. Data were collected from multiple centers all over the country, and all of the patients were followed up for at
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Manuscript no. 2009-1523.
Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
This study was partly supported by grants from the National Science Council, Taiwan (96-2314-B-182A-094).