ObjectiveTo systematically review anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs on visual acuity in patients with central vetinal vein occlnsion-macular edema (CRVO-ME). MethodsDatabases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 11, 2012), EMbase, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were electronically searched for the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about anti-VEGF drugs on visual acuity in patients with CRVO-ME from the date of establishment of the databases to December 2012. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and evaluated the included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. The quality of evidence was analyzed using GRADEpro 3.6 software. ResultsA total 9 trials involving 1 072 patients (1 072 eyes) were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, anti-VEGF injection, compared with sham injection, increased BCVA score measured by ETDRS (MD=16.27, 95%CI 9.98 to 22.55, P < 0.000 01); decreased CFT score measured by OCT (MD=245.25, 95%CI 136.02 to 354.48, P < 0.000 1); gained more than 15 letters in BCVA (OR=4.43, 95% CI 2.23 to 8.83, P < 0.000 1); and the long term anti-VEGF effect index, gained no less than 15 letters in BCVA (OR=2.25, 95% CI 1.56 to 3.23, P < 0.000 1). The score of short term BCVA changes was of intermediate quality, while another three outcomes were of low quality in the GRADE system. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that, anti-VEGF drugs could improve the visual acuity of patients with CRVO-ME. The clinicians could recommend this kind of drugs to the patients. Due to the limitations of the included studies, more large-sample multicentre high-quality RCTs are required to verify its effectiveness.