Recent advances of bevacizumab as an adjunct to trabeculectomy

Glaucoma is a group of diseases characterized by progressive optic nerve damage and characteristic visual field defect.Increased intraocular pressure is the main risk factor for glaucoma progression.Trabeculectomy combined with adjunctive antimetabolites has been commonly used in glaucoma treatment currently.Several studies have shown that the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentration is increased in the eyes after trabeculectomy treatment, which is certainly related to scar formation.As a humanized recombined monoclonal antibody, bevacizumab not only limits the formation of scar, but also eliminates the toxic effects of antimetabolites by unselectively binding with different isoforms of VEGF.Many studies found that intravitreal, subconjunctival, intracameral and topic bevacizumab could improve the success rate of trabeculectomy.In this paper, role of VEGF in the formation of follicular scar after trabeculectomy, together with the treatment mechanism, administration method and dosage of adjuvant bevacizumab therepy to trabeculectomy were reviewed.