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Anti‐VEGF therapies for retinal vein occlusion: real‐world outcomes of a Portuguese multi‐center study
Author(s) -
Sousa Neves F.,
Ribeiro L.,
Barata A.,
Ruão M.,
Matos R.,
VazPereira S.,
Flores R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2016.0257
Subject(s) - medicine , macular edema , visual acuity , branch retinal vein occlusion , central retinal vein occlusion , occlusion , ophthalmology , retinal vein , single center , retrospective cohort study , surgery
Purpose We aim to characterize real‐world treatment patterns in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO) treated with anti‐VEGF in Portugal and evaluate the visual acuity and tomographic outcomes. Methods Retrospective, observational multicenter study of Portuguese patients with center‐involving macular edema secondary to RVO treated with anti‐VEGF as primary treatment and with a follow‐up of 12‐months. Hemiretinal vein occlusion was analyzed within the BRVO group. Results Two hundred eyes were analyzed: 62% with BRVO and 38% with CRVO; 50% of patients were male and the mean age was 69 years. The median visual acuity (VA) gain was maximal at 6 months: −0.2 logMar (2‐line gain) and −0.1 logMar (1‐line gain) for the BRVO and CRVO groups respectively. This improvement was maintained throughout the follow‐up (p < 0.05 in 0–6 and 0–12 months period in both groups). The central macular thickness (CMT) decreased from 535 to 333 μ m at 6 months in the BRVO group and from 693.5 to 404 μ m in the CRVO group. At 12 months no further improvement was seen (p < 0.05 in 0–6 months period and in 0–12 months period in both groups). The mean change of CMT was not statistically different between groups in neither time point. The median number of injections was 3 in the first 6 months and 1 in the following six in both groups. A better VA outcome was associated with younger age, higher initial VA and a lower baseline CMT in both groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions Real‐world outcomes of anti‐VEGF treatment for RVOs are usually worse than those obtained in the landmark clinical trials in functional and morphological parameters. This could be due to less intense treatment but also because clinical trials usually exclude patients with poor baseline characteristics. Our results are in accordance with other real‐life studies and confirm a better prognosis of BRVO in comparison with CRVO.