Abstract
Purpose: :
To compare the effectiveness of intravitreal bevacizumab for treating macular edema in retinal vein occlusion between single injection and consecutive injection procedures.
Methods: :
The medical records of 56 patients diagnosed with macular edema caused by retinal vein occlusion and treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injection(1.25 mg/0.05 mL) from September 2006 to March 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with an initial visual acuity <0.5 and central retinal thickness in optical coherence tomography (OCT) >300 μm were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injection. Patients followed-up for over 6 months were divided into a single-injection group and consecutive-injection group (injection three times with 1-month intervals). If necessary, an additional injection was provided. Changes in visual acuity, decrease in central retinal thickness, and rate of additional injection were compared between the two groups.
Results: :
Changes in logMAR of the single-injection group were -0.27, -0.28, -0.25, and -0.27 at 1, 2, 3, and 6 months, respectively. Those of the consecutive-injection group were -0.27, -0.35, -0.37, and -0.30, respectively. Although the degree of improvement was greater in the consecutive-injection group, the difference was not statistically significant. Central retinal thickness decreased by 245.7, 244.5, 201.9, and 216.5 μm in the single-injection group at 1, 2, 3, and 6 months, respectively, while that of the consecutive-injection group declined by 294.6, 323.3, 328.7, and 266.0 μm, respectively. The decrease in central retinal thickness was larger in the consecutive-injection group, but the difference was significant only at 3 months. The rate of additional injection was lower in the consecutive-injection group than in the single-injection group (31.8% and 64.7%, respectively; p=0.028).
Conclusions: :
Improvement in visual acuity and decrease in central retinal thickness at the 6-month follow-up were greater in the consecutive-injection than the single-injection group, but the difference was not statistically significant. The rate of additional injection was significantly lower in the consecutive-injection group.
Keywords: vascular occlusion/vascular occlusive disease • edema • injection