Bevacizumab versus ziv-aflibercept in branch retinal vein occlusion

PURPOSE: To compare the effectiveness of treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) and ziv-aflibercept (IVZ) in patients with macular edema (ME) post-branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). METHODS: Patients with treatment naïve ME post-BRVO were included retrospectively if they received either IVB (0.05 ml/1.25 mg) or IVZ (0.05 ml/1.25 mg) monotherapy with a follow up of 12 months. RESULTS: Thirty-two and 17 eyes received IVB and IVZ, respectively. The mean improvement in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.36 ± 0.3 logarithm of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) in the IVB group and 0.27 ± 0.3 in the IVZ group (P = 0.35). The mean change in central macular thickness was 178.9 ± 180.9 and 173.5 ± 344.4 μm in IVB and IVZ groups, respectively (P = 0.94). The mean number of injections was higher in the IVB group (4.0 ± 1.8) compared with 1.82 ± 0.8 in the IVZ group (P < 0.0001). The IVZ group had significantly fewer number of visits (P < 0.0001) and longer maximum treatment-free intervals (P = 0.0081). CONCLUSION: IVZ appears to be cost-effective with the similar visual outcome and less number of visits in comparison to IVB.