Impact of Intravitreal Bevacizumab Injection on Life Quality in Patients with Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of intravitreal bevacizumab injection on visual function and vision-related quality of life (VR-QOL) in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) using the Korean version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (K-NEI-VFQ-25). METHODS: This study included 32 normal control subjects and 32 patients with BRVO. The Korean version of NEI-VFQ-25 was answered by the patients with BRVO before and 3 months after intravitreal bevacizumab injection, as well as by normal control subjects. Clinical data were collected, including central macular thickness (CMT), total macular volume (TMV) (using time-domain optical coherence tomography [OCT]), and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). RESULTS: Visual acuity, CMT, and TMV significantly improved 3 months after intravitreal bevacizumab injections. No bevacizumab-related systemic or ocular adverse effects following intravitreal drug injections were observed. Significant improvement in the VFQ-25 composite score was observed in patients with BRVO. Subscale scores, including general vision, near activities, distance activities, social functioning, mental health, role difficulties, dependency, and peripheral vision, improved after injection. However, subscale scores regarding general health, ocular pain, driving, and color vision did not improve significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Intravitreal bevacizumab injection appears to be an effective treatment for visual function, as well as VR-QOL in macular edema secondary to BRVO. However, improvement of driving function and color vision appears to require a longer recovery time than visual function.