Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapy with or Without Initial Steroid Therapy for Macular Edema in Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion

Purpose: In branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), administering steroid injections to inhibit expression of inflammatory factors in the first phase of macular edema may reduce recurrence of the edema. The purpose of our study was to investigate the functional and morphological prognosis and frequency of recurrence after injection of an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with and without initial steroid therapy to treat macular edema with BRVO.Patients and Methods: Patients with BRVO and macular edema (41 eyes) received intravitreal ranibizumab injection (IRI) alone (IRI group, 21 eyes) or subtenon triamcinolone (STTA) injection and IRI (combination group, 20 eyes). Patients in both groups with recurrent macular edema received further IRI as appropriate. A laser flare meter was used to assess aqueous flare values, and an optical coherence tomography device was used to measure central macular thickness (CMT). Before the first treatment, we obtained samples of aqueous humor and analyzed them by the suspension array method to evaluate VEGF, placental growth factor (PlGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-AA, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and interferon-inducible 10-kDa protein (IP-10).Results: The two groups were not significantly different with regard to levels of VEGF, PlGF, PDGF-AA, sICAM-1, MCP-1, IL-6, IL-8, or IP-10. Best-corrected visual acuity, CMT, and aqueous flare value (IRI group, baseline 8.69 & PLUSMN; 4.55 photon counts/ms; combination group, baseline 9.21 & PLUSMN; 3.72 photon counts/ms) improved significantly in both groups without significant intergroup differences. Analyses showed no significant intergroup differences in the mean number of IRIs during the 12-month follow-up, but the proportion of patients without recurrence (ie, who received only one IRI) was significantly higher in the combination group than in the IRI group (P = 0.032). Furthermore, the time to initial recurrence was significantly longer in the combination group than in the IRI group (P = 0.003).Conclusion: These findings suggest that initial STTA injection and IRI may have a synergistic effect in patients with BRVO and macular edema in that they increase the time between anti-VEGF treatments.