Indian Journal of Ophthalmology

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Year
: 2018  |  Volume : 66  |  Issue : 1  |  Page : 173--174

Intravitreal bevacizumab


Bakulesh M Khamar 
 Consultants, Netralaya, Near Parimal Garden, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Bakulesh M Khamar
Former Professor of Opthalmology, NHL Municipal Medical College, 103, Elegance Tower, Ambawadi, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad - 380 006, Gujarat
India




How to cite this article:
Khamar BM. Intravitreal bevacizumab.Indian J Ophthalmol 2018;66:173-174


How to cite this URL:
Khamar BM. Intravitreal bevacizumab. Indian J Ophthalmol [serial online] 2018 [cited 2024 Mar 29 ];66:173-174
Available from: https://journals.lww.com/ijo/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2018/66/1/173/221862


Full Text



Sir,

It was interesting reading the guest editorial and the special editorial in the July issue of IJO.[1]

I would like to point out that a pack of Lucentis includes 5 μ needle filter in spite of the fact that it contains a single dose. This is not provided with bevacizumab.

Five-micron filter provided with Lucentis will not allow administration of larger particles. Large particles are known to be formed with protein containing products such as bevacizumab.[2] Such particles are known to induce inflammation and sterile endophthalmitis.[3]

The use of 5 μ needle filter will probably help in avoiding sterile endophthalmitis (culture negative) which are also seen in a cluster, even when multiple doses are removed from the same vial in one sitting with due precautions.[3],[4]

Generally, bevacizumab is not known to be contaminated after multiple punctures, which has been demonstrated earlier by research.[5] However, if desired, potential contamination can also be eliminated using multidose vial adaptors as demonstrated by French investigators.[6] They used multidose vial adaptor having two distinct air and fluid channels. Air channel contains 0.45 μ air filter to prevent entry of microorganisms in a multidose vial and fluid channel containing 5 μ fluid filter to avoid withdrawal of large size particles.

Can this be recommended to take advantage of existing knowledge to provide affordable care to needy patients?

This is more pertinent now as we have more than one manufacturer of bevacizumab in our country.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

1Kumar A, Ravani R. Using intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin ®) – Indian Scenario. Indian J Ophthalmol 2017;65:545-8.
2Kahook MY, Liu L, Ruzycki P, Mandava N, Carpenter JF, Petrash JM, et al. High-molecular-weight aggregates in repackaged bevacizumab. Retina 2010;30:887-92.
3Fielden M, Nelson B, Kherani A. Acute intraocular inflammation following intravitreal injection of bevacizumab – A large cluster of cases. Acta Ophthalmol 2011;89:e664-5.
4Entezari M, Ramezani A, Ahmadieh H, Ghasemi H. Batch-related sterile endophthalmitis following intravitreal injection of bevacizumab. Indian J Ophthalmol 2014;62:468-71.
5Das T, Volety S, Ahsan SM, Thakur AK, Sharma S, Padhi TR, et al. Safety, sterility and stability of direct-from-vial multiple dosing intravitreal injection of bevacizumab. Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2015;43:466-73.
6Le Rouic JF, Breger D, Peronnet P, Hermouet-Leclair E, Alphandari A, Pousset-Decré C, et al. Extemporaneous withdrawal with a mini-spike filter: A low infection risk technique for drawing up bevacizumab for intravitreal injection. J Fr Ophtalmol 2016;39:415-20.