To evaluate the short-term safety and efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin®) injection for various conditions.

The medical records of 257 eyes of 251 patients who underwent intravitreal bevacizumab injections were reviewed. Central retinal thickness on optical coherence tomography and visual acuity before injections, at 1 week, 1 month, 2 months and 3 months after injections were analyzed.

The patients included age-related macular degeneration (89 eyes), diabetic macular edema (67 eyes) and retinal vascular occlusion (57 eyes). The number of injections was twice in 82 eyes, 3 times in 23 eyes and 4 times in 2 eyes. In total, 391 injections were performed. Best corrected visual acuity increased significantly at 3 months (p=0.033) and central retinal thickness decreased by 1 month and was maintained until 3 months after the first injection (p<0.001). No serious drug-related ocular or systemic adverse incidents including endophthalmitis, glaucoma, retinal detachment, hypertension or myocardial infarction were identified.

The intravitreal bevacizumab injection was safe and efficient for macular edema in this short-term study.