Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate the long-term effect of Bevacizumab on macular edema secondary to central and branch retinal vein occlusions.
Methods:
Retrospective study of 12 consecutive patients with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusions with a minimum of 3-years of follow up. Patients were evaluated at baseline using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Fluorescein Angiography and given intravitreal injections of Bevacizumab. Patients were followed with OCT and further injections were administered on follow up visits if persistent edema was noted (as needed therapy). Patients who received any other concurrent treatment modality were excluded from this study. The primary end points included visual acuity and central macular thickness (CMT) at 3- and 5- years. Statistical analyses were performed with paired T-tests.
Results:
A total of 12 patients (mean age 59) were included. All patients had at least 3-years of follow up and 6 patients had 5-years of follow up. There was an improvement in logMAR visual acuity of -0.24 (p=0.02) after 3 years and -0.19 (p=0.47) after 5 years. There was a statistically significant reduction in mean CMT from 374 to 254 microns (difference=120, p=0.001) after 3 years, and from 470 to 304 microns (difference=166, p=0.01) after 5 years.
Conclusions:
As needed intravitreal injections of Bevacizumab lead to a significant reduction in macular edema after three years and after five years. Intravitreal injections of Bevacizumab improved visual acuity after three years.
Keywords: 505 edema •
748 vascular endothelial growth factor •
749 vascular occlusion/vascular occlusive disease