UC San Diego

Age-related macular degeneration and its complication, subretinal neovascularization, are common causes of progressive, irreversible impairment of central vision. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy has improved the visual outcome and provided an evolution in the treatment of retinal disease. The current four anti-VEGF drugs - pegaptanib, ranibizumab, aflibercept, and bevacizumab - have been administered for many years. A new anti-VEGF agent, brolucizumab, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in late 2019 for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. Brolucizumab is a novel single-chain fragment variable antibody that inhibits all isoforms of VEGF-A and has been suggested to have more tissue penetration. Despite all the benefits, there are some reports of serious side effects that need to be understood in managing patients. Brolucizumab has been reported to cause occlusive retinal vasculitis in the setting of intraocular inflammation, which has not been seen in other anti-VEGF medications. A PubMed and Scopus search was performed and all article types were included. In the present article, we have reviewed the reported side effects of brolucizumab.