Subfoveal Choroidal Thickness Changes after Intravitreal Bevacizumab in Macular Edema Secondary to Retinal Vein Occlusion

Jin Young Lee; Su Jeong Song; Mi Yeon Lee; Jeong Hun Bae

doi:10.3341/jkos.2019.60.8.740

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Lee, Song, Lee, and Bae: Subfoveal Choroidal Thickness Changes after Intravitreal Bevacizumab in Macular Edema Secondary to Retinal Vein Occlusion

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2019; 60(8): 740-747.

Published online: 20 August 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2019.60.8.740

Subfoveal Choroidal Thickness Changes after Intravitreal Bevacizumab in Macular Edema Secondary to Retinal Vein Occlusion

Jin Young Lee, MD¹, Su Jeong Song, MD, PhD¹, Mi Yeon Lee, MPH², Jeong Hun Bae, MD, PhD¹

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

²Department of Biostatistics, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Address reprint requests to Jeong Hun Bae, MD, PhD. Department of Ophthalmology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, #29 Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03181, Korea. Tel: 82-2-2001-2250, Fax: 82-2-2001-2262, jhbae94@hotmail.com

Received 13 September 2018 Revised 7 December 2018 Accepted 18 July 2019

The Korean Ophthalmological Society

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

To determine changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT) after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab in eyes with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Methods

Forty-four patients treated with intravitreal bevacizumab for unilateral macular edema due to RVO were retrospectively reviewed. Before injection, patients underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) assessment, dilated fundus examination, fluorescein angiography, and enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography. Changes in BCVA, SCT, and central macular thickness (CMT) of the RVO eyes were evaluated and compared with those of the normal contralateral eyes at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months after injection.

Results

The mean SCT in RVO eyes (265.41 ± 43.02 µm) was significantly thicker than that in the fellow eyes (244.77 ± 30.35 µm) at baseline (p < 0.001). The mean SCT was significantly reduced at 1, 3, and 6 months after intravitreal bevacizumab injection (all p < 0.001), and the change in SCT was significantly correlated with the change in CMT (r = 0.327, p = 0.030). While there was an improvement in BCVA together with a reduction in SCT (p < 0.001), no significant correlation was found (p = 0.126).

Conclusions

Subfoveal choroidal thickness in RVO eyes with macular edema was greater than that in the normal fellow eyes, and decreased significantly after intravitreal bevacizumab injection. The SCT reduction was significantly correlated with CMT reduction.

Keywords: Bevacizumab, Central macular thickness, Retinal vein occlusion, Subfoveal choroidal thickness

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Changes and comparisons of the subfoveal choroidal thickness and the central macular thickness between RVO eyes and normal fellow eyes. Vertical lines indicate 1 standard error of the means. RVO = retinal vein occlusion. ^*p < 0.05 for the difference between the two groups. ^**p < 0.05 for the change from the baseline.

Figure 2

Scatter plot shows correlation between subfoveal choroidal thickness and central macular thickness. At baseline, a significant correlation between the two is shown in eyes with macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion (^r = 0.468, p = 0.049). ^Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Table 1

Baseline characteristics of the patients

Variables are presented as mean ± standard deviation or number (%).

RVO = retinal vein occlusion; BCVA = best-corrected visual acuity; logMAR = the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution; D = diopters.

Table 2

Changes in SCT, CMT, and BCVA after intravitreal bevacizumab

Continuous variables are presented as mean ± SD.

SCT = subfoveal choroidal thickness; CMT = central macular thickness; BCVA = best-corrected visual acuity; RVO = retinal vein occlusion; logMAR = the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution; SD = standard deviation.

^*p for the change from the baseline; ^†p for the difference between RVO eyes and the fellow eyes.

Table 3

Correlation between changes in SCT and changes in CMT or BCVA

SCT = subfoveal choroidal thickness; CMT = central macular thickness; BCVA = best-corrected visual acuity; CI = confidence interval.

^*Pearson's correlation coefficient; ^†regression coefficient.

Table 4

Mean SCT in eyes with branch and central RVO

Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation.

SCT = subfoveal choroidal thickness; RVO = retinal vein occlusion.

^*Paired t-test.

Table 5

Mean SCT in eyes with non-ischemic and ischemic RVO

Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation.

SCT = subfoveal choroidal thickness; RVO = retinal vein occlusion.

^*Paired t-test.

Notes

^{Conflicts of Interest} The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

References

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Subfoveal Choroidal Thickness Changes after Intravitreal Bevacizumab in Macular Edema Secondary to Retinal Vein Occlusion

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Figure 2

Scatter plot shows correlation between subfoveal choroidal thickness and central macular thickness. At baseline, a significant correlation between the two is shown in eyes with macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion (*r = 0.468, p = 0.049). *Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Table 1

Baseline characteristics of the patients

Table 2

Changes in SCT, CMT, and BCVA after intravitreal bevacizumab

Table 3

Correlation between changes in SCT and changes in CMT or BCVA

Table 4

Mean SCT in eyes with branch and central RVO

Table 5

Mean SCT in eyes with non-ischemic and ischemic RVO

Notes

References

Scatter plot shows correlation between subfoveal choroidal thickness and central macular thickness. At baseline, a significant correlation between the two is shown in eyes with macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion (^r = 0.468, p = 0.049). ^Pearson's correlation coefficient.