Three-Year Outcomes of VEGF Inhibitors in Naive Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion: Fight Retinal Blindness!

Purpose: To evaluate the 3-year outcomes of VEGF inhibitors in the treatment of cystoid macular edema due to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) in an international multicenter cohort of eyes.

Design: Multicenter, international, BRVO database study.

Subjects: Seven hundred forty-seven patients (760 eyes) undergoing intravitreal therapy for BRVO for 3 years in a multicenter international setting.

Methods: Demographics, visual acuity (VA) in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution letters, central subfield thickness (CST), treatments, number of injections, and visits data was collected using a validated web-based tool.

Main outcome measures: Visual acuity gain at 3 years in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution letters. Secondary outcome measures included anatomical results, treatment pattern, and percentage of completers. A subgroup analysis by study drug was conducted for clinical outcomes.

Results: Mean adjusted VA change was +11 letters (95% confidence interval 9-13), mean adjusted change in CST was -176 μm (-193, -159). Median number of injections/visits was 16 of 24 at 3 years of follow-up. Most eyes received VEGF inhibitors exclusively (89%, n = 677) and as a monotherapy in 71% (n = 538). Few eyes were switched to steroids (11%, n = 83). Suspensions in treatment >180 days occurred in 26% of study eyes. Aflibercept showed greater CST reductions (-147 vs. -128 vs. -114 μm; P < 0.001) and significantly lower switching rates (14% vs. 38% vs. 33%; P < 0.001) compared with ranibizumab and bevacizumab, respectively.

Conclusions: This international study of 3-year BRVO outcomes after starting treatment with VEGF inhibitors found adequate visual and anatomical results in routine clinical care. Visual outcomes were similar among the different initiating VEGF inhibitors, although eyes starting with aflibercept had better anatomical outcomes and a lower switching rate.

Financial disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.