Study characteristics of the 17 included RCTs
| Study, year | Country | Treatment arms (eyes, n) | Treatment regimen | Age (years) | Gender, male, n (%) | BCVA at baseline (letters, n) | CRT at baseline (µm) | Follow-up (months) |
| BRVO | ||||||||
| Bandello et al, 201821 | 42 sites in France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain and the UK | IVR: 153 | 0.5 mg on day 1 and monthly for 5 months, then PRN | 65.5±12.0 | 87 (56.9) | 59.2±10.9 | 544±168 | 12 |
| DEX: 154 | 0.7 mg on day 1 and month 5, PRN at month 10 or 11 | 68.4±10.6 | 92 (59.7) | 56.6±10.9 | 547±163 | |||
| VIBRANT, 201423 | 56 locations in USA, Canada and Japan | IVA: 91 | 2 mg monthly to week 20, then 2 mg 8 weekly, rescue laser PRN at week 36 | 67.0±10.4 | 44 (48.4) | 58.6±11.4 | 558.9±185.9 | 6 |
| Laser: 92 | Grid laser at baseline, from week 24 IVA 2 mg monthly for 3 months, then 8 weekly with rescue laser PRN at week 36 | 63.9±11.4 | 54 (60) | 57.7±11.3 | 553.5±188.1 | |||
| COMRADE-B, 201822 | 74 sites across Germany, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary | IVR: 126 | 0.5 mg monthly for 3 months until stable VA and then PRN | 65.7±10.9 | 50 (39.7) | – | – | 6 |
| DEX: 118 | 0.7 mg single dose and then PRN | 65.6±10.0 | 61 (51.7) | – | – | |||
| BLOSSOM, 202017 | 33 centres in China and Far East | IVR: 190 | 0.5 mg monthly until stable VA, then PRN | 57.0±10.1 | 89 (46.8) | 57.3±11.0 | 517.9±179.4 | 6, 12 |
| Sham: 93 | Sham injections up to month 5 and 0.5 mg IVR PRN from month 6 | 56.8±10.0 | 55 (59.1) | 57.5±13.1 | 539.3±219.6 | |||
| BRIGHTER, 201629 | 82 centres in 17 countries worldwide | IVR: 183 | 0.5 mg monthly (minimum three injections) until stable VA and then PRN | 64.7±10.34 | 93 (50.8) | 59.5±11.77 | – | 6 |
| Laser: 92 | Laser with minimum 4 months interval, IVR 0.5 mg PRN from month 6 | 67.7±9.67 | 37 (40.2) | 56.5±14.13 | – | |||
| Miao Zhao et al, 202036 | China | IVC: 36 | 0.5 mg followed PRN | 61.86±10.63 | 20 (55.56) | 43.36±19.09 | 539.86±174.80 | 12 |
| IVTA: 17 | 1 mg followed PRN | 63.41±7.37 | 10 (58.82) | 43.36±19.09 | 512.47±123.87 | |||
| RABAMES, 201528 | Germany | IVR: 10 | 0.5 mg monthly for three injections | 64.2±8.6 | 4 (40) | – | 584.2±250.9 | 6 |
| Laser: 10 | Grid laser at day 0 and an optional second laser at visit 6 (day 54–58) | 68.8±9.5 | 5 (50) | – | 570.6±158.1 | |||
| Russo, 200935 | Italy | IVR: 15 | 1.25 mg at baseline and then PRN | 64.6±6.2 | 12 (80) | 41.5±8 | 690±120 | 6, 12 |
| Laser: 15 | Grid laser at baseline, then PRN after 3 months | 65.2±6.5 | 11 (73.3) | 40.5±6.5 | 650±140 | |||
| Higashiyama et al, 201337 | Japan | IVB: 21 | 1.25 mg at baseline then PRN after 3 months | 66.5±9.4 | 11 (50) | – | – | 12 |
| IVTA: 22 | 4 mg at baseline then PRN after 3 months | 70.4±9.3 | 6 (28.6) | – | – | |||
| CRVO | ||||||||
| COPERNICUS, 2012, 201318 25 | 70 sites in USA, Canada, Colombia, India and Israel | IVA: 115 | 2 mg monthly for six injections then PRN | 65.5±13.5 | 69 (61) | 50.7±13.9 | 661.7±237.4 | 6, 12 |
| Sham: 74 | monthly for six doses, then 2 mg IVA PRN | 67.5±14.3 | 38 (52) | 48.9±14.4 | 672.4±245.3 | |||
| CRUISE, 2010, 201119 26 | 95 sites in USA | IVR: 262 | 0.5 mg or 0.3 mg monthly for six doses then PRN | 68.7±12.0 | 151 (57.6) | 47.7±14.7 | 684.3±247.3 | 6, 12 |
| Sham: 130 | monthly injection for six injections, then IVR 0.5 mg if met prespecified criteria | 65.4±13.1 | 72 (55.4) | 49.2±14.7 | 687.0±237.6 | |||
| COMRADE-C, 201627 | 66 sites in Germany, Great Britain, Poland and Hungary | IVR: 124 | 0.5 mg for 3 consecutive monthly then PRN | 65.3±11.4 | 72 (58.1) | 51.7±16.5 | 723.8±245.9 | 6 |
| DEX: 119 | 0.7 mg at baseline | 66.9±12.4 | 73 (61.3) | 51.5±15.6 | 705.2±231.1 | |||
| GALILEO, 2013, 201420 24 | 63 sites in Europe and Asia Pacific | IVA: 106 | 2 mg every 4 weeks for six doses and then PRN | 59.9±12.4 | 58 (56.3) | 53.6±15.8 | 683.2±234.5 | 6, 12 |
| Sham: 71 | Sham injections monthly for 52 weeks | 63.8±13.3 | 37 (54.4) | 50.9±15.4 | 638.7±224.7 | |||
| Ding, 201134 | China | IVB: 16 | 1.25 mg at baseline and then PRN | 53.6±16.8 | 9 (56.3) | 26.2±30.35 | 783.82±412.61 | 6 |
| IVTA: 16 | 4 mg at baseline and then PRN | 55.5±11.9 | 9 (56.3) | 27.4±26.65 | 734.94±288.72 | |||
| Epstein et al, 201232 33 | Sweden | IVB: 30 | 1.25 mg every 6 weeks for 12 months | 70.6±12.6 | 19 (63.3) | 44.4±15.3 | 712±330 | 6, 12 |
| Sham: 30 | sham injection every 6 weeks for 6 months, then 1.25 mg IVB every 6 weeks for 6 months | 70.4±10.4 | 17 (56.7) | 43.9±16.0 | 729±195 | |||
| ROCC, 201030 | 4 sites in Norway | IVR: 16 | 0.5 mg for 3 consecutive monthly then PRN | – | – | 45±23 | 661±161 | 6 |
| Sham: 16 | Sham injection for 3 consecutive monthly | – | – | 41±22 | 587±154 | |||
| Ramezani et al, 201431 | Iran | IVB: 43 | 1.25 mg for 3 consecutive monthly | 60±8 | 24 (56) | 41.5±24.5 | 473±223 | 6 |
| IVTA: 43 | 2 mg, 2 times, 2 months apart | 59±9 | 23 (54) | 44.5±22.5 | 438±202 |
BRVO, branch retinal vein occlusion; CRVO, central retinal vein occlusion; DEX, dexamethasone; IVB, intravitreal bevacizumab; IVR, intravitreal ranibizumab; IVTA, intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide; PRN, pro re nata; RCT, randomised controlled trial.