title: Effect of intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin(®)) therapy in malignant hypertensive retinopathy: a report of two cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Malignant hypertensive retinopathy is a rare, but serious, complication of uncontrolled systemic hypertension for which no treatment has been established yet. We report 2 patients with malignant hypertensive retinopathy who recovered promptly following intravitreal bevacizumab injection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intravitreal bevacizumab (1.25 mg/0.05 mL) was injected in 4 eyes of 2 patients having malignant hypertensive retinopathy with optic disc edema, macular edema, and retinal exudates. A complete ophthalmic examination, including the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT) on optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fluorescein angiography (FAG), was performed before and after the treatments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two eyes in 1 patient received two intravitreal injections of bevacizumab, whereas 2 eyes in the other patient received a single treatment. All 4 eyes had improvement of macular edema on OCT at 1 month and decreased fluorescein leakage on FAG 3 months after the treatment, which led to improvements in the BCVA in 3 eyes. In 1 eye with foveal atrophy, no change in the BCVA occurred despite the improved macular edema on OCT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that intravitreal bevacizumab injections might be a useful adjunctive treatment of malignant hypertensive retinopathy in some selected cases. However, further studies are mandatory to determine the safety and the efficacy of such injections in this disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eui Yon
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ho Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Lew
authors.forename: Ji Hun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006974:Hypertension, Malignant / Q000188:drug therapy*; D058437:Hypertensive Retinopathy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D058449:Intravitreal Injections / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000068258:Bevacizumab