title: Forty-two-month outcome of intravitreal bevacizumab in myopic choroidal neovascularization.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the long-term efficacy of bevacizumab in the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to pathological myopia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective single-center non-comparative study the medical records of 29 eyes from 29 patients with naïve CNV secondary to high myopia and at least 42 months of follow up were reviewed. All eyes received a loading dose of one intravitreal injection per month for two consecutive months and were retreated on an as-needed basis during the course of follow up. The main outcome measures were post-treatment ETDRS best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and visual stabilization over time. Stepwise linear regression analysis was performed to identify prognostic factors for visual acuity gain and final visual acuity outcome at 42 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 42 months of follow-up bevacizumab was associated with the maintenance of significant benefits in visual acuity compared to baseline. No adverse ocular or systemic effects from treatment were encountered. No statistically significant correlations were found between BCVA change and any of the quantitative variables. However, when final BCVA was taken as a dependent variable and CNV size and pre-treatment VA were included as predictors, a bivariate model was identified by stepwise regression which gave a 75 % of explained variance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bevacizumab treatment was found to be efficacious in the treatment of myopic CNV, resulting in stable gains in visual acuity lasting at least 42 months, without any adverse ocular or general events. Myopic CNV size was identified as a significant prognostic factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Viale Bracci 1, 53100, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Traversi
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nuti
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marigliani
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cevenini
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balestrazzi
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martone
authors.forename: Tomaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Caporossi
authors.forename: Gian Marco
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Tosi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D020256:Choroidal Neovascularization / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D047728:Myopia, Degenerative / Q000150:complications*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000068258:Bevacizumab