Intravitreal Ranibizumab With Laser Photocoagulation For The Treatment Of Macular Edema Secondary To Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion

Objective: To compare and analyze the safety and efficacy of intravitrealranibizumab versus intravitreal ranibizumab combined with laser photocoagulation forthe treatment of macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).Methods: This study included35eyes from35patients with macular edemasecondary to BRVO. They were all diagnosed in the First Affiliated Hospital of DalianMedical University, and were randomized into two groups: group1(15eyes) receivedintravitreal ranibizumab (0.05ml/0.5mg) at baseline, at1month, and at2month; group2(20eyes) received the same intravitreal ranibizumab protocol combined with laserphotocoagulation at one week after the first injection. The clinical features like age,gender, systemic disease, intraocular pressure (IOP), fundus fluorescein angiography(FFA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) characteristics, best corrected visualacuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) were evaluated before therapy.Follow-up3months after the first injection. The changes of BCVA, IOP and CMT wererecorded during follow-up. The date were analyzed with SPSS17.0. The Student t testwas performed to compare CMT and BCVA. A two-tailed P value of less than0.05wasconsidered to be statistically significant.Results: After3months follow-up. In group1, median BCVA improved from0.64±0.21to0.38±0.11(P<0.05); median CMT decreased from (409.67±103.30) μm to(277.73±83.16) μm (P<0.05). In group2, median BCVA improved from0.71±0.20to 0.25±0.09(P<0.001); median CMT decreased from (421.90±57.95) μm to(218.85±26.65) μm (P<0.001). In group1and2, the median BCVA were0.46±0.14and0.55±0.25(P>0.05) and the CMT were (326.93±77.89) μm and (293.75±44.24) μm(P>0.05) at1month; the median BCVA were0.41±0.12and0.35±0.12(P>0.05) andthe median CMT were (277.07±84.60) μm and (293.75±44.42) μm (P>0.05) at2month;the median BCVA were0.38±0.11and0.25±0.09(P<0.05) and the median CMT were(277.73±83.16) μm and (218.85±26.65) μm (P<0.05) at3month. No adverse systemicevents due to treatment were recorded, as well no adverse ocular events.Conclusion: Intravitreal injection with ranibizumab combined with laserphotocoagulation for the treatment of macular edema secondary to BRVO is effectiveand safe. The effect of the combined treatment is better than the intravitrealranibizumab.