Study Design and Baseline Characteristics

Purpose: To describe the design and baseline characteristics of participants in the Study of COmparative Treatments for REtinal Vein Occlusion 2 (SCORE2) and to compare with cohorts from other retinal vein occlusion trials. Design: Phase III prospective, multicenter, randomized clinical trial designed to assess whether intravitreal bevacizumab is noninferior to intravitreal aflibercept for treatment of decreased vision attributable to macular edema associated with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) or hemiretinal vein occlusion (HRVO). Participants: Total of 362 participants: 307 with CRVO and 55 with HRVO. Methods: Demographic and study eye characteristics are summarized and compared between CRVO and HRVO study participants. Main Outcome Measures: Baseline ophthalmic characteristics, including visual acuity and retinal thickness, and medical history characteristics, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and coronary artery disease. Results: The mean age of participants was 69 years, 76% of participants were white, and 90% were nonHispanic. There was a racial disparity with respect to disease type, with 38% of HRVO patients being black compared with 11% of CRVO patients (P value adjusted for multiple testing = 0.0001). This is similar to findings from the previous SCORE Study. Comorbidities included hypertension (77%), diabetes mellitus (31%), and coronary artery disease (15%). At baseline, mean visual acuity letter score was 50 (20/100) (range, 19-73 [20/400 to 20/40]), mean optical coherence tomography (OCT)-measured central subfield thickness was 678 mu m (range, 300-1203 mu m), and mean number of months from diagnosis of macular edema to randomization was 6 (range, 0-104months). One hundred twenty (33%) SCORE2 participants had been treated previously with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy, with these participants having baseline visual acuity letter score and OCT-measured central subfield thickness similar to those without prior anti-VEGF treatment, but longer mean duration of macular edema before randomization (18 months vs. 1 month for those without prior anti-VEGF treatment; P < 0.0001). Conclusions: The SCORE2 cohort is a heterogeneous population, including both CRVO and HRVO eyes and both treatment-naive eyes and eyes treated previously with anti- VEGF, which will allow study results to have broad applicability to CRVO and HRVO patients receiving treatment for macular edema. Similarities of the baseline characteristics of the SCORE2 population to other CRVO trial cohorts will allow meaningful comparisons of outcome results across trials. Ophthalmology 2017; 124: 245-256 (C) 2016 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology