Study affirms the systemic safety of anti-VEGF treatments
This retrospective study explored the safety of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy in routine clinical practice. The authors examined records from 23,348 patients with diabetic macular edema (DME), including 13,365 treated with macular laser, 9,219 with intravitreal anti-VEGF and 764 with intravitreal corticosteroid. The analysis revealed a similar risk of cerebrovascular disease, major bleeding, myocardial infarction and serious adverse events among all 3 groups. Anti-VEGF injections, however, were tied to a higher risk of all-cause hospitalization compared with laser therapy (HR 1.17; P=0.01). The authors conclude anti-VEGF therapy for DME is relatively safe. Ophthalmology, July 2019
