J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2010 Mar;51(3):379-385.

Short-term Effects of Intravitreal Bevacizumab Injection and Macular Edema Patterns in Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion

• Song YB
• Park SP

Abstract

PURPOSE
We attempt to distinguish the patterns of macular edema due to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and to find correlations between the 24 hour short-term and three month long-term therapeutic effects of an intravitreal bevacizumab injection.
METHODS
Forty-four eyes in 44 patients with macular edema due to BRVO underwent an intravitreal bevacizumab injection. Ophthalmoscopic examinations, fluorescein angiographic evaluations, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) examinations performed made before the injections, after 24 hours, and at one, two and three month follow-ups. OCT yielded three patterns of macular edema: diffuse macular edema, cystoid macular edema, and serous retinal detachment.
RESULTS
Macular edema significantly improved 24 hours after the injections. The change in central macular thickness after 24 hours had a statistically significant correlation with the three month central macular thickness (Pearson correlation, r=0.757 p=0.011). Cystoid macular edema showed better improvement than the others after 24 hours, but no differences after three months.
CONCLUSIONS
OCT treatment 24 hours after an intravitreal bevacizumab injection was found to be highly correlated to the long term prognosis. It is therefore useful in determining therapy and predicting the progress of macular edema in patients with BRVO.

Keyword

24 hours follow-up; Bevacizumab; Branched retinal vein occlusion; Macular edema; Ocular coherence tomography

MeSH Terms

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Eye
Fluorescein
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Macular Edema
Prognosis
Retinal Vein
Retinal Vein Occlusion
Retinaldehyde
Tomography, Optical Coherence
Bevacizumab
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Fluorescein
Retinaldehyde

Figure

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  Figure 1. Classification of macular edema in branch retinal vein occlusion patients: Type 1, diffuse macular edema. Type 2, cystoid macular edema. Type 3, serous retinal detachment.

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  Figure 2. Correlation analysis of the visual acuity improvement at 24 hours after intravitreal bevacizumab injections with at 3 months (Pearson correlation, r=0.665; p=0.174).

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  Figure 3. Correlation analysis of the central macular thickness improvement at 24 hours after intravitreal bevacizumab injections with at 3 months. Strong correlation is observed (Pearson correlation, r=0.757; p=0.011).

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  Figure 4. Inter-correlations between the improvement of 24 hours after intravitreal bevacizumab injection according to the OCT patterns of macular edema, in branch retinal vein occlusion patients. Cystoid macular edema showed better improvement than the others at 24 hoursb (p=student t-test; n=number of eyes); DME= diffuse macular edema (Type 1); CME=cystoid macular edema (Type 2); SRD=serous retinal detachment (Type 3).

Reference

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