Endophthalmitis Rates after Bilateral Same-Day Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Injections.
Publication/Presentation Date
10-1-2018
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate practice patterns for bilateral same-day intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections and determine the rate of unilateral and bilateral postinjection endophthalmitis after bilateral same-day intravitreal anti-VEGF injections.
DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.
METHODS: The records of a large academic private practice were electronically queried for all office visits, during which bilateral intravitreal anti-VEGF injections were performed between April 1, 2012 and August 21, 2017 for patients with a diagnosis of neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, or retinal vein occlusion. Demographic information and indication for injection were recorded for each patient and office visit. Charts of patients with endophthalmitis were reviewed, and information was collected on presentation examination, culture data, and visual outcomes.
RESULTS: During the study period, 101 932 bilateral same-day intravitreal anti-VEGF injections were performed over 50 966 office visits for 5890 patients. The mean (standard deviation) age of patients in this cohort was 74.2 (14.1) years and 60.6% of patients were female. The 2 most common indications for injection were neovascular age-related macular degeneration (54.3% of patients) and diabetic macular edema (35.4% of patients). Twenty-eight cases of endophthalmitis (0.027% of total injections) occurred during the study period. There were no cases of bilateral endophthalmitis, and no patients had more than 1 occurrence of endophthalmitis.
CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of patients undergoing bilateral same-day intravitreal anti-VEGF injections, there were no cases of bilateral endophthalmitis. Additionally, the overall rate of unilateral endophthalmitis was low and comparable to prior studies of unilateral injections. These results support the safety of bilateral same-day intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment.
Volume
194
First Page
1
Last Page
6
ISSN
1879-1891
Published In/Presented At
Borkar, D. S., Obeid, A., Su, D. C., Storey, P. P., Gao, X., Regillo, C. D., Kaiser, R. S., Garg, S. J., Hsu, J., & Wills Post Injection Endophthalmitis (PIE) Study Group (2018). Endophthalmitis Rates after Bilateral Same-Day Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Injections. American journal of ophthalmology, 194, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2018.06.022
Disciplines
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
PubMedID
29981738
Department(s)
Administration and Leadership
Document Type
Article