To report the effect of intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for the treatment of macular edema due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).

In a retrospective study, 18 consecutive patients (18 eyes) with macular edema from CRVO received intravitreal bevacizumab (1.25 mg). Ophthalmic examination included best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) at baseline and follow-up visits. Fluorescein angiography was performed during follow-up visits if necessary. Primary outcomes included a change in BCVA and CMT.

The mean duration from symptom detection to the first bevacizumab injection was 32.5 days. The patients received a mean of 2.17 injections of bevacizumab per eye. The mean baseline visual acuity (LogMAR) was 1.27 and increased to a mean of 0.75 at 5 weeks, and 0.81 at 24 weeks. The mean central macular thickness at baseline was 640.5 µm and decreased to a mean of 295.6 µm at 5 weeks and 284.7 µm at 24 weeks ( p <0.05). In the ischemic CRVO group, no significant changes in visual acuity were found after 24 weeks. The increase in visual acuity did not correlate significantly with the decrease in CMT after 24 weeks ( p =0.205). The result from the non-ischemic group was similar to the preceding result ( p =0.151).

Intravitreal bevacizumab resulted in a significant decrease in CMT in patients with CRVO after a 6-month follow-up. The visual acuity in patients with non-ischemic CRVO improved, but there was no significant improvement in the ischemic CRVO group.