Abstract
Purpose :
The purpose of this study was to compare the anatomical and functional outcomes of ranibizumab versus aflibercept for the treatment of macular edema due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in routine clinical practice.
Methods :
Participants in this observational study were 62 treatment naïve patients with CRVO, who received treatment with either intravitreal ranibizumab or aflibercept. The demographic data, the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) characteristics were evaluated at baseline and at month 1,2,3,6,12 and 18 post treatment.
Results :
At month 18, the mean BCVA of ranibizumab-treated eyes increased 7.9 letters compared to 7.4 letters for eyes receiving aflibercept with similar number of injections (6.8±1.3 and 6.1±2.0 in the ranibizumab and aflibercept group respectively). The difference in letters between the two groups was not statistically significant, nor the difference in central subfield thickness at month 18. At the end of the follow-up, 50% of patients in ranibizumab group and 42.9% of patients in aflibercept group showed total resolution of macular edema. However, 41.2% of patients in ranibizumab group and 46.4% of patients in aflibercept group were found to need further treatment at the end of the follow-up due to persistent/recurrent macular edema, suggesting that patients with CRVO could not be discharged and should be followed-up periodically.
Conclusions :
Ranibizumab and aflibercept presented similar anatomical and functional outcomes in 18-month follow-up in patients with macular edema due to CRVO with a similar number of injections.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.