Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2022 Jun;42(6):1905-1913.
doi: 10.1007/s10792-021-02188-z. Epub 2022 Jan 30.

Comparison of bevacizumab, ranibizumab and aflibercept in retinopathy of prematurity treatment

Elçin Süren  1 , Dilek Özkaya  2 , Ersan Çetinkaya  3 , Mustafa Kalaycı  1 , Kenan Yiğit  4 , Mehmet Fatih Kücük  1 , Muhammet Kazim Erol  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of bevacizumab, ranibizumab and aflibercept in retinopathy of prematurity treatment

Elçin Süren et al. Int Ophthalmol. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the efficacy and refractive outcomes of intravitreal bevacizumab, ranibizumab and aflibercept in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) treatment.

Methods: We analyzed the files of patients treated with intravitreal bevacizumab, ranibizumab and aflibercept for ROP, retrospectively. A total of 187 eyes of 111 patients were included. Recurrence time after initial treatment, recurrence rate, age and rate of additional treatment, refractive outcomes in age 1, 2 and 3 were evaluated and compared between the groups.

Results: Fifty-four eyes of 30 patients formed bevacizumab group (Group-1), 77 eyes of 47 patients formed ranibizumab group (Group-2) and 56 eyes of 34 patients formed aflibercept group (Group-3). No significant difference was found in gender, gestational age, birth weight and risk factors between the groups (p>0.05). Success rate was higher in group 3, but the difference was not significant (p = 0.174) (74.1% in group-1, 62.4% in group-2 and 76.8% in group-3). Recurrence rate was higher in group 2, but the difference was not significant (p = 0.158) (25.9% in group-1, 37.6% in group-2 and 23.2% in group-3). Recurrence time after initial treatment was significantly shorter in group 2 (p < 0.01). Additional treatment rate was also higher, and the age of additional treatment was lower in group-2 (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). We found refractive values more myopic in ages of 1, 2 and 3 in group 1.

Conclusions: Bevacizumab, ranibizumab and aflibercept are effective treatment alternatives for ROP. We observed more frequent and much earlier recurrence in eyes treated with ranibizumab. A myopic shift was found in bevacizumab group. We also emphasize the necessity of longer follow-ups for infants treated with anti-VEGF drugs.

Keywords: Aflibercept; Bevacizumab; Ranibizumab; Retinopathy of prematurity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alon T, Hemo I, Itin A et al (1995) Vascular endothelial growth factor acts as a survival factor for newly formed retinal vessels and has implications for retinopathy of prematurity. Nat Med 1(10):1024–1028 - DOI
    1. Gilbert C (2008) Retinopathy of prematurity: a global perspective of the epidemics, population of babies at risk and implications for control. Early Hum Dev 84(2):77–82 - DOI
    1. Lashkari K, Hirose T, Yazdany J, McMeel JW, Kazlauskas A, Rahimi N (2000) Vascular endothelial growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor levels are differentially elevated in patients with advanced retinopathy of prematurity. Am J Pathol 156(4):1337–1344 - DOI
    1. Smith LEH (2008) Through the eyes of a child: understanding retinopathy through ROP the Friedenwald lecture. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 49:5177–5182 - DOI
    1. Riazi-Esfahani H, Mahmoudi A, Sanatkar M, Farahani AD, Bazvand F (2021). Comparison of aflibercept and bevacizumab in the treatment of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity. Int J Retina Vitreous. 13;7(1):60.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources