Purpose: To detect retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tears in predominantly classic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injections.
Methods: Forty consecutive patients with predominantly classic CNV secondary to AMD were treated with 1.25 mg of intravitreal bevacizumab. Patients were evaluated with visual acuity (VA) measured with Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study charts, optical coherence tomography, and fluorescein angiography.
Results: Three patients developed a RPE tear after the first injection. The first patient had been treated with verteporfin therapy and VA remained unchanged. In the other two cases the CNV was naive and VA improved since the foveal center was not involved by the tear and macular edema was reduced.
Conclusions: RPE tears can occur following intravitreal bevacizumab injections in patients with predominantly classic CNV although VA is not always affected.