28 maio, 2014

EVALUATION OF THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF BEVACIZUMAB IN THE TREATMENT OF MACULAR OEDEMA SECONDARY TO RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION

ER Alfaro Lara, FJ Bautista Paloma, C Vázquez Marouschek, S Flores Moreno, MA Pérez Moreno, A Villalba Moreno

Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Pharmacy, Seville, Spain; Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Ophthalmology, Seville, Spain

Background After evaluation of ranibizumab and bevacizumab by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee of a tertiary hospital, for the treatment of macular oedema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO), based on the available evidence, both drugs were considered equivalent therapeutic alternatives and ‘off label’ use of bevacizumab was approved. 1.25 mg intravitreal prefilled syringes are prepared by the Pharmacy department, administered every 6 weeks for four doses and repeated as required.

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab as an antiangiogenic drug in the treatment of macular oedema secondary to RVO.

Materials and methods Data were collected from patients diagnosed with macular oedema secondary to RVO from November 2012 to April 2013. For each patient, the following data were collected: age and gender, type of occlusion and adverse reactions detected. The variable used to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment was the improvement in the visual acuity, measured by the Snellen fraction adapted to decimal between 0.05 and 1.

Results 18 patients with macular oedema secondary to RVO were treated, with a total of 46 doses, and an average of 2.5 (1–5) doses/patient. The average age was 67 and 61% were women. In all cases we used intravitreal bevacizumab as the antiangiogenic drug. 14 cases were branch RVO and 4 cases were central RVO. 14 patients showed great improvement after being given the drug, 2 patients showed a slight improvement and the other 2 patients maintained the same visual acuity and continue with the treatment. No loss of visual acuity has been recorded in any patients. No adverse reactions have been reported.

Conclusions In our group of patients, intravitreal bevacizumab was an effective and safe treatment of macular oedema secondary to RVO. The efficacy data obtained are consistent with the reported bibliography.

Eur J Hosp Pharm 2014:21(Suppl 1):A1–224