Intravitreal bevacizumab in central serous chorioretinopathy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of intravitreal bevacizumab injection in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). STUDY DESIGN Quasi-experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Layton Rehmatullah Benevolent Trust Eye and Cancer Hospital, Lahore, from July 2010 to April 2011. METHODOLOGY There were 43 eyes of 32 adult patients with CSCR. Patients with choroidal neovascularization, prior treatment for CSCR, history of thromboembolism, intraocular pressure more than 21 mmHg, history of retinal detachment, intraocular inflammation, and allergy to fluorescence were excluded from study. All patients had intravitreal injection of off label bevacizumab. At baseline and follow-up visits, patients had best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) measurement with optical coherence tomography. They were followed-up for 6 months. Outcome measures included BCVA and CMT. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used for evaluation of BCVA and CMT. RESULTS There were 26 (81.3%) males and 6 (18.7%) females with 21 (65.5%) cases of unilateral and 11 (34.5%) cases of bilateral involvement. Mean age was 39.09 ± 8.49 years. Nineteen (59.4%) eyes showed less than 6 months involvement and 13 (40.6%) eyes showed more than 6 months involvement. Mean number of injections required was 2.37 ± 1.24 in acute cases and 3.05 ± 1.39 in chronic cases. Overall mean of required injections was 2.67 ± 1.34. Median visual acuity at baseline was 0.25 and at 6 months was 0.7 (p < 0.001). Median CMT at baseline was 557 μ and at 6 months was 286 μ (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Intravitreal bevacizumab injection was associated with visual improvement and reduced neurosensory detachment.