One of the most feared complications of eye injections is blindness. This infection is called endophthalmitis. Last week the FDA issued an alert the 12 cases of endophthalmitis were caused by the injections. The cause of the infections is NOT Avastin. There is nothing wrong with the drug itself. Avastin Must Be RePackaged Upon further investigation, a common denominator was a single … [Read more...]
FDA Delays Decision on VEGF Trap Eye
August 24, 2011 By 13 Comments
VEGF Trap-Eye was not approved by the FDA for the treatment of wet macular degeneration. The parent company, Regeneron, was hopeful to gain FDA approval last week, but the FDA delayed its decision until November of this year. VEGF Trap-Eye Treats Wet Macular Degeneration VEGF Trap-Eye, or aflibercept, is another anti-VEGF drug formulated to treat wet macular degeneration. Like its … [Read more...]
FDA Upholds Denial of Avastin
July 5, 2011 By 4 Comments
Avastin is no longer FDA approved for breast cancer. This decision was upheld at a hearing last week. Eye patients, however, need not worry. The Food and Drug Administration had removed its approval for Avastin for the treatment of breast cancer last December. A hearing last week (June, 2011) allowed Genentech and the drugs' supporters, to voice their concerns about the removal of the … [Read more...]
Two Lasers for Diabetic Retinopathy
June 22, 2011 By 5 Comments
There are two different laser treatments to treat diabetic retinopathy. One laser treatment is used to treat diabetic macular edema, the most common "complication" of diabetic retinopathy. The second laser treatment is used to treat proliferative diabetic retinopathy (aka PDR), yet far fewer people develop this potentially blinding stage of the disease. Same Laser Used for Both … [Read more...]
Do Avastin Injections Hurt?
May 31, 2011 By 2 Comments
Intraocular injections of Avastin usually do NOT hurt. Once in awhile, I have patients or readers of my blog who complain of severe pain following an intraocular injection. Why? It's Not the Needle That Hurts I believe the pain is due to the solution used to clean the eye prior to the injection and not the needle itself. The solution is called "Betadine" and is commonly used to … [Read more...]
Avastin and Lucentis Are Equally Safe, Too.
May 10, 2011 By 5 Comments
The results of the CATT trial demonstrated that Avastin and Lucentis are equally effective for the treatment of wet macular degeneration. A small issue, since the release of that data, appears to be whether Avastin has more side effects than Lucentis. Avastin is as safe (or as dangerous) as Lucentis. The CATT trial results were data from the first year of a 2 year study. The … [Read more...]
Avastin Just as Good as Lucentis
May 4, 2011 By 3 Comments
It's official. Avastin is just as good as Lucentis for the treatment of wet macular degeneration. The results of this National Eye Institute study were released just a week ago. The study, the "Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatment Trials (CATT)" compared the two drugs head-to-head in a year long study involving about 1200 patients. The study is … [Read more...]
Retina Specialists Have Classes All Their Own
October 26, 2010 By 1 Comment
Preceeding the AAO, retina specialists have a 2 day meeting of their own. It's a time for me to take classes or instructional courses on subjects related to my sub-specialty of retinal disease. Other sub-specialists (cornea, pediatic ophthalmology, glaucoma) do the same. Our meeting is focused on all things retina...naturally. Not much new information was presented during the sub specialty … [Read more...]
How Many Lucentis Injections?
June 7, 2010 By 9 Comments
How many anti-VEGF injections of Avastin or Lucentis are needed to treat wet macular degeneration? We don't know. While there is no question that anti-VEGF injections are the gold-standard for the treatment of ARMD, the exact way in which they are used varies from doctor to doctor. Standard of Care The standard of care for macular degeneration changed. The standard treatment for wet ARMD … [Read more...]
Combination Injections for Diabetic Retinopathy
May 12, 2010 By 4 Comments
Injecting both Avastin and a steroid injection can be a useful way to treat stubborn macular edema from diabetic retinopathy. While both can be used alone to treat macular swelling in diabetic patients, the combination is sometimes considered as an alternative. Traditional Laser The gold standard has been to treat diabetic macular edema with laser treatment. This has been a very effective … [Read more...]
