Short-term efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab for the treatment of macular edema due to diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion

Purpose: To evaluate the short-term efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab injection for the management of macular edema due to diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion. Methods: Patients with macular edema due to diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusion were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab and evaluated retrospectively. Standardized ophthalmic evaluation, ETDRS visual acuity measurement, and central macular thickness were performed at baseline and 1 month intervals after injection. Results: There were 23 eyes of 21 patients with macular edema due to diabetic retinopathy (14 eyes of 12 patients), and retinal vein occlusion (9 eyes of 9 patients). The mean baseline logMAR visual acuity and central macular thickness were 0.82 ± 0.27 and 604.71 ± 123.62 μm, respectively, in patients with diabetic retinopathy. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean logMAR visual acuity (P = 0.22) and central retinal thickness (P = 0.16) measurements at baseline and 3 months follow-up. The mean baseline logMAR visual acuity and central macular thickness were 0.94 ± 0.48 and 557 ± 113.9 μm, respectively, in patients with retinal vein occlusion. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean logMAR visual acuity and central retinal thickness measurements at baseline and 3 months follow-up (P < 0.01). Almost all of the eyes (88.8%) regained normal foveal configuration. Conclusions: Although our follow-up period was short and the number of patients were limited to provide specific treatment recommendations, intravitreal bevacizumab seems to be more effective for macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion than diabetic macular edema. The favorable short-term results suggest further study is needed.