Intravitreal injections are frequently administered to patients with wet macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion or diabetic eye disease. During the injection procedure, povidone-iodine drops are used to disinfect the ocular surface, which reduces the risk of post-injection infection in the eye (endophthalmitis – which is very rare but can cause significant visual loss if it… Read More
Avastin vs Lucentis for wet AMD
Avastin and Lucentis are intravitreal injections which are used to treat wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Avastin is not licensed for use in AMD but has a much lower cost and remains the most frequently used medicine for wet AMD in many countries, including the USA. A recent Cochrane systematic review analysed data from 6… Read More
Treat-and-Extend injections for wet AMD
There has been increasing interest in the Treat-and-Extend model of dosing of intravitreal injections for wet macular degeneration, which aims to reduce the number of visits for patients while individualising treatment frequency depending on disease activity. This latest randomised clinical trial, although studying small numbers of patients, appears to show that this regimen led to… Read More
Intravitreal anti-VEGF injections do not increase risk of stroke, heart attack or death
This is a large and important study from Singapore. When Avastin was given in large doses intravenously for cancer treatment, an increased risk of stroke was observed. Therefore there was a theoretical risk that even the tiny doses of Avastin given into the eye could also be associated with a higher risk of stroke. This… Read More
