title: Intravitreal bevacizumab vs. sham treatment in acute branch retinal vein occlusion with macular edema: results at 3 months (Report 1).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The goal of this work is to compare the visual and anatomical (central macular thickness; CMT) outcomes of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injections relative to sham treatment in eyes with acute (less than 3 months in duration) branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).
  
  
  METHODS
  In a double-masked randomized clinical trial (RCT), patients with acute BRVO were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: IVB (two injections of 1.25 mg IVB 6 weeks apart) or sham treatment. Primary outcome measures included changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and CMT in optical coherence tomography (OCT) during follow-up (FU) examinations. Any complications secondary to injections were considered secondary outcomes. FU results after 6 and 12 weeks are reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-one eyes (43 OD) of 81 patients (47 females) were enrolled in the study. Forty-two patients were enrolled in the IVB group, and 39 patients were enrolled in the sham group. Visual acuity and CMT improved in the IVB group after week 6 (two Snellen lines and 262 μm, respectively) and week 12 (three Snellen lines and 287 μm, respectively). After week 6, visual improvements in the IVB group were significantly increased relative to that of the sham group. However, visual improvements at week 12 were not significantly different between the two groups (1.5 Snellen lines visual improvement in the sham group at week 12).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In acute BRVO, two IVB injections resulted in significant improvement of vision and CMT at 6 weeks relative to the sham group. However, the visual improvements in the IVB group were not significantly different from those in the sham group at 12 weeks. IVB injections accelerate an initial improvement of visual acuity but do not have any significant effects on vision after 12 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Labbafinejad Medical Center, Pasdaran Ave. Boostan 9 St., Tehran, 16666, Iran. moradian33195@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Siamak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moradian
authors.forename: Hooshang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Faghihi
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.forename: Niloofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Piri
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ahmadieh
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soheilian
authors.forename: Mohammad Hossein
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Dehghan
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azarmina
authors.forename: Mohammad Riazi
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Esfahani
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000068258:Bevacizumab