Short-Term Changes in Intraocular Pressure After Intravitreal Injection of Bevacizumab for the Treatment of Retinopathy of Prematurity

Purpose: To evaluate short-term changes in intraocular pressure after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity. Patients and methods: This study was a prospective case-series. Consecutive infants underwent intravitreal injection with bevacizumab for type 1 retinopathy of prematurity at a university hospital. Intraocular pressure was measured with tonometer at baseline, at 1 min, and at 3, 10, 30 and 60 mins after injection. Results: Five patients (four boys) were enrolled in this study. Mean (+/- standard deviation) intraocular pressure was 8.0 +/- 2.4 mmHg (range: 6-11.5 mmHg) just before the intravitreal injection, and the pressures were 19.8 +/- 2.8 mmHg (16.4-23.9 mmHg), 14.6 +/- 4.4 mmHg (7.6-18.4 mmHg), 11.2 +/- 4.2 mmHg (6.4-16.5 mmHg), 9.3 +/- 3.5 mmHg (5.8-13.2 mmHg), and 8.2 +/- 1.4 mmHg (6.9-10.0 mmHg) at 1 min, 3, 10, 30 and 60 mins after the injection, respectively. Mean intraocular pressure after 1 min was significantly higher than intraocular pressure before injection (p = 0.02). Pressures decreased between 1 min and 3 mins after intravitreal injection, although there was no statistically significant difference between the pressures at those time-points. Intraocular pressures after 3, 10, 30 and 60 mins were not significantly different from the pressure before injection. Conclusion: Intraocular pressure elevation after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for neonatal infants may be mild, so there may be a limited risk due to intraocular pressure after intraocular injection of bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity.