Recurrence of macular edema in retinal vein occlusions after treatment with intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis)

Objective

To evaluate the recurrence of macular edema (ME) in a mixed group of patients with branch (BRVO) and central (CRVO) retinal vein occlusion after early onset treatment with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab.

Design

Nonrandomized, uncontrolled prospective clinical trial.

Participants

Forty patients were enrolled in our study. Twenty-two patients had BRVO and 18 patients had CRVO.

Methods

All patients had a minimum follow-up of 12 months. All patients had fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) at presentation. The time period between RVO occurrences and initial examination and treatment was <1 month. Every patient was treated with 2 consecutive intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (0.5 mg) 1 month apart. Assessment was carried out on a monthly basis and injection was carried out if necessary, based on OCT findings.

Results

Recurrence of ME occurred in 13 patients (13/22, 59%) in the BRVO group, whereas in the CRVO group occurred in all patients (18/18, 100%). Mean time interval of these recurrences from last injection was 2.4 months and 1.2 months for BRVO and CRVO groups, respectively. Mean period of ME reabsorption was 2.5 months for the BRVO group and 3.5 months for the CRVO group.

Conclusions

Recurrent ME occurred in 77.5% of our patients. These recurrences occurred sooner, were more prominent and lasted longer in patients with CRVO.