Ultra-low dose of intravitreal bevacizumab in retinopathy of prematurity.

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the effectivity of the 0.0625mg dose of bevacizumab in patients with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and compare the results with 0.625mg dose of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injection. 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-0.625mg/0.025ml) and group L (n=45) (low dose (one tenth) of bevacizumab-0.0625mg/0.025ml). 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±29days, respectively (p<0.001). Disappearance of plus sign is observed earlier in group F (2.45±1.7 vs 3.66±2.46days, respectively, p=0.03). The low dose (0.0625mg) of IVB treatment was effective as full (0.625mg) 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.