Does topical bevacizumab prevent postoperative recurrence after pterygium surgery with conjunctival autografting?

• Main Authors: Aylin Karalezli, Cem Kucukerdonmez, Yonca A. Akova, Bengu Ekinci Koktekir
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Press of International Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO PRESS) 2014-06-01
• Series: International Journal of Ophthalmology
• Subjects: limbal-conjuctival autograft; topical bevacizumab; pterygium; recurrence
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4067669/

<b>AIM:</b>To assess the effect of topical bevacizumab use on postoperative pterygium recurrence in eyes who underwent pterygium excision with limbal-conjunctival autograft transplantation (LCAT).<b>METHODS:</b>Eighty-eight eyes of 88 patients with primary pterygium were included. Pterygia were graded preoperatively from type 1 to type 3 (type 1 atrophic, type 3 inflamed) according to the inflammatory status. The eyes were preoperatively randomized to receive topical steroid and antibiotic treatment (group 1, 46 eyes) and additional topical bevacizumab (5 mg/mL; group 2, 42 eyes) in the postoperative period. All eyes underwent pterygium excision and LCAT. Medications were tapered and discontinued at one month. Postoperative complications and recurrence rates were recorded.<b>RESULTS:</b> The mean follow-up duration was 29.3±4.2mo (24-52mo) and 28.5±3.4 (24-48mo) in group 1 and 2, respectively (<i>P</i>＞0.05). There were no statistically significant differences regarding the age or gender between groups (<i>P</i>＞0.05). Also, the difference between groups with respect to pterygium type was not significant. During the follow-up period, recurrence developed in 2 eyes (4.3%) in group 1, whereas in one eye (2.4%) in group 2. No statistically significant difference between groups was found in recurrence rates (<i>P</i>＞0.05). No re-operation for recurrence was necessary during the follow-up period in both groups. <b>CONCLUSION:</b> Topical bevacizumab seems to have no additonal effect on pterygium recurrence after LCAT.