Visual acuity outcomes and anti-VEGF therapy intensity in macular oedema due to retinal vein occlusion: a real-world analysis of 15 613 patient eyes

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To assess visual acuity (VA) outcomes and antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy intensity in retinal vein occlusion (RVO)-related macular oedema (ME). METHODS: A retrospective study was completed in treatment-naïve patients with RVO-related ME from 2013 to 2019, using the Vestrum Health Retina Database. RESULTS: Mean baseline age was 72.4 years and 54% were women. In 6 months, in 8876 eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO)-related ME, after a mean of 4.5 anti-VEGF injections, VA increased by 9.4 letters (95% confidence interval (CI) for change in VA +8.94 to +9.78, p<0.001) from a baseline of 55.1 letters. In 6737 eyes with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO)-related ME, after a mean of 4.6 anti-VEGF injections over 6 months, VA improved by 9.2 letters (95% CI +8.50 to +9.87, p<0.001) from a baseline of 37.2 letters. In 1 year, VA gain was similar (BRVO: 7.4 injections, +8.1 letters, 95% CI +7.55 to +8.57, p<0.001; CRVO: 7.6 injections, +7.1 letters, 95% CI +6.31 to +7.95, p<0.001). In 6 months and 1 year, mean letters gain increased with number of anti-VEGF injections. Patient eyes with baseline VA of 20/40 or better tended to lose VA in 1 year. CONCLUSION: Mean change in VA correlates with treatment intensity, but patients with better VA at presentation are susceptible to vision loss, reflecting a ceiling effect. Assessed with the same database, VA gains compare favourably with 1-year VA gains in neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic ME, but exhibit a larger gap when compared with corresponding randomised controlled trials.