Subconjunctival injection of bevacizumab in the treatment of corneal neovascularization associated with lipid deposition.

PURPOSE: To determine the effects on corneal neovascularization (NV) and lipid deposition after subconjunctival injection of bevacizumab in patients who had NV associated with lipid keratopathy.

METHODS

A case interventional study enrolled 18 patients (18 eyes) with lipid keratopathy. We gave monthly subconjunctival injections of bevacizumab from 3 to 10 times during the follow-up period according to the clinical response. We evaluated the centricity, extent, and percentage of involved corneal surface (PICS) of the corneal NV; the density and PICS of the corneal lipid deposition; and best-corrected visual acuity before and after treatment. We analyzed the treatment effects using Wilcoxon and Student t tests.

RESULTS

After the treatment, the change in best-corrected visual acuity was less than 2 lines. The extent, centricity, and PICS of the corneal NV and the density and PICS of the corneal lipid deposition decreased significantly after treatment (P = 0.014/0.002/0.001 and 0.001/<0.001, respectively). No eyes had side effects.

CONCLUSIONS

The effects of subconjunctival injection of bevacizumab in treating corneal NV associated with lipid deposition were significant in some patients.