Avastin for pathological myopia

[ValveJob]

I am a 66-year-old woman with a -13 diopter prescription in my left eye and a -14 diopter prescription in my right eye (that is, for the moment, as they are constantly getting more myopic)!  In October I went to a retinal specialist because of a distortion in the left eye which at that time was below my center of vision.  He told me it was a small hemorrhage and that often they just reabsorb.  He said to see him in four months.  Then at the beginning of January, the distortion went into the center of my vision, so I called and got an appointment for January 20.  At that time, he told me it was because of neo-vascularisation, and that there was swelling under the retina.  He said that the blood had reabsorbed, but he gave me an injection of Avastin.  It is now 3½ weeks since the injection, and there is no change in my eyesight, and I am extremely discouraged.  I will see the specialist again on February 22, but in the meantime, I would like to know if you know of other cases where there was virtually no change for a few weeks after an injection, but that the swelling eventually went down and the eyesight eventually improved.

[ValveJob]

Thank you for your quick reply.  Just one more thing.  Don't you think the specialist should have given me the injection of Avastin in October when the distortion was below the center of vision and there was not yet any swelling?  Wouldn't it have "nipped it in the bud"?

[Timothy D McGarity, M.D.]

I have seen this same scenario a number of times. The neovascular membrane will take time (weeks) for it to regress, or another injection will be needed. Also, once the membrane has regressed, it doesn't mean your vision will fully return. You can unfortunately be left with a permanent vision defect. I'm very sorry for your situation, but trust your retina doc as it sounds like he/she is doing the right thing. Best wishes to you.