Material and Methods: Twenty-eight eyes of twenty-eight patients who were treated with intravitreal 0.5 mg (0.05 ml) ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech Inc., USA) for macular edema due to branch retinal vein occlusion were included in this study. The medical records were analysed retrospectively. Age, sex, laterality, systemic disorders, number of injections, follow-up period and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) before and after treatment were recorded. Spectral OCT findings such as central macular thickness (CMT), type of edema, presence of IS/OS and ELM damage, vitreomacular pathologies were evaluated. Also fluorescein angiographies (FA) were analyzed in order to detect macular or peripheral ischemia. The relationship between these parameters and BCVA was analysed.

Results: There were 12 males and 16 females in our study. The mean follow-up time was 12 (3-35) months. Ischemia was detected in 36% of the patients in FA. The mean number of injections was 2.8 (1-7). The mean BCVA at the end of the follow-up (0.56±0.44 logMAR) was significantly better than that at baseline (0.76±0.48 logMAR; p<0.05). The mean CMT improved from 614.6±246.6 μm at baseline to 250±171.6 μm at the end of the follow-up (p=0.000). The efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab was similar among the sub-groups which were formed considering presumed prognostic factors (p>0.05). Intact foveal IS/OS line (p=0.025) and ELM (p=0.033) at baseline correlated with good final visual outcome but the type of edema showed no difference among all sub-groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Intravitreal ranibizumab therapy leads to improvement of BCVA and CMT in patients with macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion. Intact IS/OS line and ELM on OCT indicate good visual prognosis before treatment. Keywords : Retinal vein occlusion, optic coherence tomography, prognosis, ranibizumab