title: Prospective multicenter study of visual outcomes following three different treatments for macular edema associated with branch retinal vein occlusion: a study by the Japanese BRVO study group.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the visual outcomes of three different treatments for macular edema associated with a branch retinal vein occlusion.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 1-year, non-randomized study was conducted at 21 ophthalmological institutes in Japan. All of the patients received one of three treatments: medication per-oral (PO), photocoagulation (PC) or pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). Retinal hemorrhage that was lower than that shown in reference photographs was considered an inclusion criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-eight patients were studied. Twenty-six (26.5%) patients were in the PO, 37 (37.8%) in the PC and 35 (35.7%) in the PPV group. The mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved significantly after 1 year in all groups (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference among those groups in the degree of the BCVA improvement. However, the BCVA in the PPV group improved significantly at 6 months, significantly earlier than in the other two groups. The BCVA at entry in the PPV group was significantly worst among patients whose eyes had a BCVA of ≥ 0.7 at 1 year (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PPV had a slight advantage over PC and PO, although the improvement to the BCVA did not differ significantly following any of the three treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Yodogawa Christian Hospital, 2-9-26 Awaji, Osaka, 533-0032, Japan. a193007@ych.or.jp
authors.forename: Seiyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harino
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bessho
authors.forename: Teruyo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kida
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000323:Adrenochrome / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D000368:Aged; D003029:Coagulants / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006490:Hemostatics / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D017075:Laser Coagulation; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D014821:Vitrectomy
chemical_list: D003029:Coagulants; D006490:Hemostatics; D000323:Adrenochrome; C073338:carbazochrome; D007610:Kallikreins