Association between time to treatment and outcome in branch vein occlusion

Abstract Purpose To investigate the association between the time from onset to initial treatment and changes in visual acuity or the number of treatments in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion. Methods Thirty-nine eyes of 39 consecutive patients with untreated acute-phase BVO. The patients were initially treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy and additional pro re nata therapy within six months of onset. The patients were classified according to the time from disease onset to the first treatment (group A: 28 days or less, group B: over 28 days). Results The mean age was 73 ± 8 years (53 to 88). The mean the first treatment time was 31.6 ± 17.9 days. The mean logMAR visual acuity at first treatment was 0.37 ± 0.30. The mean number of treatments was 3.1 ± 1.7. No significant association was observed between the time from onset to the first treatment and changes in the logMAR visual acuity. Patients in group A and central macular thickness at the initial visit were independently associated with the number of treatments at one year (p = 0.03 and p = 0.01, respectively). Conclusions At one year, the time between onset to the start of anti-VEGF therapy for BVO was not associated with subsequent visual acuity changes.