The Effects of Intravitreal Bevacizumab in Infectious and Noninfectious Uveitic Macular Edema

Abstract

Background/Aims.To assess the effect of intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVBI) for the treatment of macular edema due to infectious and noninfectious uveitides.Design.Retrospective interventional case series.Methods.A chart review was performed on all the patients who were diagnosed with uveitic macular edema (UME) and received 1.25 mg of IVBI at two referral centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All included patients had their visual acuity and macular thickness analyzed at baseline and at 1 and 3 months following IVBI and any sign of reactivation was noted.Results.The mean age of patients was41±16years with a mean followup of4±1months. Ten patients had idiopathic intermediate uveitis, 9 patients had Behcet’s disease, 10 had idiopathic panuveitis, and twelve patients had presumed ocular tuberculosis uveitis. Following IVBI, the mean LogMAR visual acuity improved from0.8±0.8at baseline to0.4±0.5at 1 month and0.3±0.5at 3 months (P<0.002, at 3 months). The mean macular thickness was430±132 μm at baseline. Following IVBI macular thickness improved to286±93 μm at 1 month and to265±88 μm at 3 months of followup (P<0.001, at 3 months).Conclusion.Bevacizumab was effective in the management of UME associated with both infectious and noninfectious uveitides. Intravitreal bevacizumab induced remission of UME with infectious uveitis and had no immunosuppressive effect against infectious agents.