Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) is a better treatment option for acute retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) than conventional laser treatment, according to a study in the February 17 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

In this study, the researchers randomized 143 infants with both zone I and posterior zone II ROP to receive either conventional laser therapy or intravitreal Avastin injection. Following treatment, 42% of the children who received laser therapy experienced disease recurrence compared to just 6% of the children who received Avastin.

“When I started working with babies almost 40 years ago, there was nothing we could do for those with retinopathy of prematurity,” says lead researcher Helen A. Mintz-Hittner, M.D., professor of ophthalmology and visual science at the University of Texas Health Medical School in Houston. “We’ve gone from nothing to a real solution. If you are careful and administer this therapy appropriately in stage 3+ ROP, you can get wonderful outcomes.”

Dr. Mintz-Hittner further explains the advantages of Avastin therapy over laser. “With laser treatment, you still had to intubate, which could cause major setbacks for the baby, and field loss and myopia still occurred,” she said. But, “With [Avastin] therapy, we use a few drops of anesthetic to numb the eye. We take a syringe with a tiny needle and administer a small amount of the drug directly into the eye. The whole process takes two to three minutes, and you begin to see results within 24 hours. The abnormal vessels virtually disappear and then normal vessels begin to grow out again.”

Mintz-Hittner HA, Kennedy KA, Chuang AZ. Efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab for stage 3+ retinopathy of prematurity. N Engl J Med. 2011 Feb;364(7):603-15.