Intravitreal bevacizumab for radiation-induced cystoid macular oedema in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a clinical series.

AIMS To evaluate the outcome of intravitreal bevacizumab in the treatment of radiation-induced cystoid macular oedema among patients who underwent external beam radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHODS Five patients were recruited. The length of time from the last external beam radiation therapy to presentation ranged from 12 months to 15 years. Intravitreal bevacizumab (1.25 mg/0.05 ml) was given and repeated monthly injections were administered until best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved to 6/9 or until 3 further injections did not show further improvement in BCVA. BCVA was measured and fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescein angiography were performed at baseline. BCVA and OCT were recorded at each monthly visit. The duration of follow-up ranged from 6 months to 2 years. RESULTS Five patients (7 eyes) were recruited. At the final visit, 3 eyes (71.4%) showed reduction in the central subfield thickness (CST; mean reduction of 17.6%, range 9-149 µm) with improvement in BCVA, whilst 2 eyes worsened in terms of CST and final BCVA. Another 2 eyes remained altered in BCVA despite slight improvement in CST. CONCLUSION The use of intravitreal bevacizumab in this group of patients showed variable response in terms of CST and BCVA outcome but remains a viable option to treat this challenging condition.