Intravitreal Faricimab for Retinal Vein Occlusion: Real-World Outcomes from the Multicenter FARTURK-RVO Study in Türkiye.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the real-world efficacy and safety of intravitreal faricimab for macular edema (ME) secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO) across a multicenter cohort with up to 52 weeks of follow-up. Data from 17 centers across Türkiye were retrospectively analyzed between 22 November 2024 and 1 March 2026. Patients with branch RVO (BRVO) or central RVO (CRVO) complicated by ME who received at least one intravitreal faricimab injection and had complete ophthalmic and optical coherence tomography (OCT) data with a minimum 4-week follow-up were included. Demographics, diagnosis, prior treatments, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA; decimal converted to logMAR), central macular thickness (CMT), intraocular pressure (IOP), injection number, follow-up duration, and ocular/systemic adverse events were recorded at baseline, day 7, monthly after each of the first three injections, and at the final visit. A total of 70 patients (37 BRVO [52.9%], 33 CRVO [47.1%]) were included, with a mean follow-up of 23.69 ± 8.54 weeks; 44 (62.8%) were treatment-naïve and 26 (37.2%) were switch patients. When comparing baseline and final visits, treatment-naïve patients showed a mean CMT reduction of 306.9 ± 231.3 µm (from 594.1 ± 206.9 µm at baseline to 287.2 ± 89.9 µm at final visit; p < 0.001), while switch patients demonstrated a mean CMT reduction of 290.6 ± 114.3 µm (from 562.1 ± 107.3 to 271.5 ± 90.7 µm; p < 0.001). The mean logMAR BCVA gain was 0.77 (p < 0.001) in naïve and 0.38 (p < 0.001) in switch patients. IOP remained stable throughout, and no serious ocular or systemic adverse events were recorded. Faricimab demonstrated rapid anatomical and functional improvements in the RVO cohort, evident as early as day 7 after the initial injection. These findings support faricimab as a potent and reliable therapeutic option across both RVO subtypes in routine clinical practice. Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a condition where one of the veins draining blood from the back of the eye becomes blocked, causing fluid to build up in the retina and leading to blurred or reduced vision, the second most common cause of vision loss from retinal blood vessel disease. Faricimab is a new medicine that works by blocking two proteins, vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and angiopoietin-2, which cause fluid leakage and blood vessel instability in the eye. While faricimab has shown promising results in clinical trials, less is known about how it performs in everyday clinical practice. This study looked at real-world outcomes in 70 patients with RVO treated across 17 eye centers in Türkiye. Faricimab led to rapid and meaningful improvements in both vision and retinal swelling, detectable as early as 1 week after the first injection, in both patients who had never received eye injections before and those switching from other treatments. No serious side effects were recorded. These findings support faricimab as an effective and well-tolerated treatment for RVO in routine clinical practice, though longer follow-up studies are needed to confirm lasting benefits, and the safety of rare inflammatory events cannot be fully assessed in a cohort of this size.