The study aims at assessing the VA (visual acuity) outcome and intensity of anti-VEGF (antivascular endothelial growth factor) therapy in patients with RVO (retinal vein occlusion) related ME (macular oedema).
The researchers used a retrospective study model on treatment-naïve subjects with the conditions diagnosed between 2013 and 2019 in the Vetrum Health Retina database.
The average baseline age was 72.4 years. 54% of the subjects were female. In six months, after an average 4.5 anti-VEGF dose, VA increased by 9.4 letters in 8876 eyes with BRVO-related ME. In 6737 eyes, there was an improvement by 9.2 letters. After a year, the VA gain was the same. After 18 months threshold, the number of injections improves the mean letters gain. Those with 20/40 baseline VA or better started to lose the condition after a year.
The average change in VA has a significant correlation with the intensity of the treatment. However, subjects with better VA during presentation tend to lose their vision due to the ceiling effect. The VA gains were favorable in diabetic ME and neovascular age-related macular degeneration. However, the output was questionable when comparing large groups under randomized controlled trials.
Ref url: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2020/10/14/bjophthalmol-2020-317337
