PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ian L McAllister
AU  - Lynne A Smithies
AU  - Fred K Chen
AU  - David A Mackey
AU  - Paul G Sanfilippo
TI  - Functional benefits of a chorioretinal anastomosis at 2 years in eyes with a central retinal vein occlusion treated with ranibizumab compared with ranibizumab monotherapy
AID  - 10.1136/bmjophth-2021-000728
DP  - 2021 Mar 01
TA  - BMJ Open Ophthalmology
PG  - e000728
VI  - 6
IP  - 1
4099  - http://bmjophth.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000728.short
4100  - http://bmjophth.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000728.full
SO  - BMJ Open Ophth2021 Mar 01; 6
AB  - Objective To evaluate the functional benefits (best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central subfield thickness, injection loads, central venous pressure (CVP)) of a laser-induced chorioretinal anastomosis (L-CRA) in patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) treated with ranibizumab compared with ranibizumab monotherapy.Methods and Analysis This is a post-hoc analysis of the 2-year randomised ranibizumab plus L-CRA for CRVO trial. Twenty-four patients (82.5%) developed a functioning or successful L-CRA; outcome effects were monitored in the monthly as-needed ranibizumab phase from months 7 to 24 and compared with the ranibizumab monotherapy group (n=29).Results From months 7 to 24, the mean (95% CI) injection load for the functioning L-CRA group was 2.18 (1.57 to 2.78) compared with 7.07 (6.08 to 8.06) for the control group (p<0.0001). The mean BCVA was averaged across all timepoints between the control and functioning L-CRA groups (average difference=11.46 (3.16 to 19.75) letters, p=0.01). At 2 years, there was an 82.5% reduction in the odds of high CVP (greater or equal to central retinal artery diastolic pressure) for those with a successful L-CRA compared with controls (p<0.0001).Conclusion For patients with CRVO, adding L-CRA as a causal-based treatment to conventional therapy reduced CVP and injection loads and offered improved BCVA.Trial registration number ACTRN12612000004864.