Intravitreal injections do not raise stroke risk

Avastin and Lucentis continue to be in the spotlight as researchers continue to study the safety of the drugs. A recent study conducted by researchers in Ontario finds that the drugs, when used to treat AMD, do not increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. Previously, the drugs have been found to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke in some cancer patients who receive the drugs intravenously. The research was conducted at Ontario's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and published in the British Medical Journal. Researchers followed 91,378 older adults with a history of retinal disease over a period of 5 years to determine if intravitreal injections of Avastin and Lucentis were associated with an increased risk of vascular events including stroke and heart attack. The results of this study and another study which used different methods both yielded consistent results which indicate that there is no increased risk of heart attack or stroke for AMD patients receiving injections. Researchers do emphasize that additional research needs to be done to evaluate the risk for other specific groups such as diabetics.*