Efficacy of Modified Treat-and-Extend Aflibercept Regimen for Macular Edema Due to Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion: 1-Year Prospective Study

Yusuke Arai; Hidenori Takahashi; Satoru Inoda; Shinichi Sakamoto; Xue Tan; Yuji Inoue; Satoko Tominaga; Hidetoshi Kawashima; Yasuo Yanagi

doi:10.3390/jcm9082360

Efficacy of Modified Treat-and-Extend Aflibercept Regimen for Macular Edema Due to Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion: 1-Year Prospective Study

J Clin Med. 2020 Jul 23;9(8):2360. doi: 10.3390/jcm9082360.

Authors

Yusuke Arai¹, Hidenori Takahashi^{1

2

3}, Satoru Inoda¹, Shinichi Sakamoto¹, Xue Tan^{2

3}, Yuji Inoue^{1

3}, Satoko Tominaga¹, Hidetoshi Kawashima¹, Yasuo Yanagi^{4

5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke-shi, Tochigi 329-0431, Japan.
² Japan Community Health Care Organization Tokyo Shinjuku Medical Center, Tokyo 162-8543, Japan.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa 078-8802, Japan.
⁵ Medical Retina, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore 168751, Singapore.
⁶ Medical Retina, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore 168751, Singapore.
⁷ The Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, National University of Singapore, Singapore 169857, Singapore.

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the efficacy and safety of a modified treat-and-extend (mTAE) regimen of aflibercept for macular edema (ME) due to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).

Methods: This prospective multicentre intervention study evaluated 50 eyes of 50 patients enrolled from October 2016 to September 2017. The patients received intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) injections on an mTAE regimen for a total of 12 months. The main outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central subfield thickness (CST) at 12 months.

Results: The baseline BCVA and CST were 0.33 (0.27) and 488 (171) µm (mean (standard deviation)), respectively. The BCVA and CST were significantly improved at month 12 (0.067 (0.19) LogMAR and 295 (110) µm; both p < 0.0001, paired t-test). The mean number of clinic visits and IVA injections was 6.71 (1.41) and 4.26 (0.71), respectively. The time to first recurrence from the first injection was most frequently 3 months.

Conclusion: The mTAE regimen of IVA injections for ME due to BRVO effectively improved BCVA and reduced CST, and thus might be an effective therapy to reduce the number of injections and visits.

Keywords: branch retinal vein occlusion; intravitreal aflibercept; modified treat-and-extend regimen.