Intravitreal Bevacizumab for the Treatment of Macular Edema Secondary to Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion
- Thomas C Kreutzer (thomas.kreutzer{at}med.uni-muenchen.de),
- Claudia S Alge (claudia.alge{at}med.uni-muenchen.de),
- Armin H Wolf (armin.wolf{at}med.uni-muenchen.de),
- Daniel Kook (daniel.kook{at}med.uni-muenchen.de),
- Johannes Burger (johannes.burger{at}med.uni-muenchen.de),
- Rupert Strauß (rupert.strauss{at}med.uni-muenchen.de),
- Christian Kunze (christian.kunze{at}i-med.ac.at),
- Christos Haritoglou (christos.haritoglou{at}med.uni-muenchen.de),
- Anselm Kampik (anselm.kampik{at}med.uni-muenchen.de),
- Siegfried G Priglinger (siegfried.priglinger{at}med.uni-muenchen.de)
- LMU Munich, Germany
- LMU Munich, Germany
- LMU Munich, Germany
- LMU Munich, Germany
- LMU Munich, Germany
- LMU Munich, Germany
- University Innsbruck, Austria
- LMU Munich, Germany
- LMU Munich, Germany
- LMU Munich, Germany
- Published Online First 22 January 2008
Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin®) injections on visual acuity (VA) and foveal retinal thickness in patients with macular oedema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).
Methods: A prospective, non comparative, consecutive, interventional case series of thirty four patients. Patients received repeated intravitreal injections of 1.25mg bevacizumab. Main outcome measures were VA (Snellen charts and ETDRS) and optical coherence tomography measurements in a follow up period of 6 months.
Results: Patients presented at a mean age of 69 years (range 44 – 86 years). Mean duration of symptoms was 40 weeks (range 1 – 300 weeks). Visual acuity at baseline was 0.79 LogMAR (±0.39) and improved to a mean of 0.46 LogMAR (±0.38) at the six month control (P = 0.009). Mean letter score on the ETDRS-chart at baseline was 45.3 (±19.0) and improved to a mean of 65.3 (±20.6) letters at the six month control visit (P = 0.003). Retinal thickness as measured by OCT at baseline was 473µm (±120) and declined to a mean of 326µm (±90) at the six month control.
Conclusion: Intravitreal injection of 1.25mg bevacizumb appears to be an effective treatment option for BRVO.
