Bevacizumab effective against macular oedema

Intravitreal ranibizumab appears to be an effective treatment for macular oedema secondary to retinal vein occlusion, according to the results of a prospective trial. The study involved 40 consecutive eyes of 41 patients with branch or central retinal vein occlusion. All received three initial intravitreal injections of 0.5mg ranibizumab at monthly intervals, with further retreatment based on visual acuity changes and OCT findings. In patients with branch retinal vein occlusion, the mean logMAR BCVA improved significantly from the baseline value 0.76 to 0.19 at 12 months’ follow-up (± 0.18 (p = 0.000). There was also an improvement in mean logMAR BCVA at 12 months among eyes with central retinal vein occlusion, from 0.84 to 0.39, although it did not reach statistical significance.

(Kim et al, Ophthalmologica 2012; DOI:10.1159/000334906).