The therapeutic effects of intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO). Methods A prospective case-observation study.Bevacizumab was injected intravitreally in 32 eyes of 32 patients with macular edema secondary to RVO determined by indirect ophthalmoscope,fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT).All patients were assigned to group A or group B according to the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) ≥0.3 or ＜0.3 before the treatment.The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA),the central macular thickness (CMT) under OCT and the possible complications were recorded and analyzed prior to injection and 1 day,1 week,4 weeks,and 12 weeks after initial injection.The follow-up period was 12 weeks. Results The vision in group A after 1 day,1 week,4 weeks,and 12 weeks compared with those before treatment was statistically significant (P ＜0.05).The central macular thickness after 1 week,4 weeks,and 12 weeks compared with those before treatment was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The vision acuity was most obviously improved in the 4 weeks and CMT was most obviously decreased in 1 week after injection.The vision in group B after 1 day,1 week,4 weeks,and 12 weeks compared with those before treatment was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The central macular thickness after 1 week,4 weeks,and 12 weeks compared with those before treatment was statistically significant (P ＜0.05).The vision acuity was most obviously improved in the 1 week and CMT was most obviously decreased in 4 weeks after injection.Funds bleeding occurred to a case after 4 weeks of first injection.No other ocular or systemic adverse events were found during the follow-up duration. Conclusions In the short-term,intravitreal injection of bevacizumab is safe and effective for macular edema induced by RVO with less tissue hurt by simply operation and less suffering. Key words: Bevacizumab;  Retinal vein occlusion;  Macular edema