Capillary Macroaneurysms in Central Retinal Vein Occlusion

Abstract

The occurrence of macroaneurysms as a consequence of central retinal vein occlusion was previously reported in one study only with the appearance of a single capillary macroaneurysm. We report a case of central retinal vein occlusion presenting several capillary macroaneurysms. It may be supposed that retinal ischemia plays an important role in the pathogenesis of capillary macroaneurysms, in association with the pressure increase in the capillary network due to venous obstruction.

Subretinal leakage of a retinal capillary macroaneurysm - a case report

“…Lesions smaller than 130 μm reported limited visual improvement with focal laser treatment and were termed microaneurysms whereas larger, more laser-susceptible lesions, were termed macroaneurysms [ 6 ]. Yet other studies describe the development of macroaneurysms after branch vein occlusions, suggesting pathogenesis related to retinal ischemia and pressure increase in the capillary net [ 4 , 7 ]. Farias, et al went so far as to rename capillary macroaneurysms as telangiectatic capillaries (TC) to suggest they are complex, large microvascular abnormalities to prevent confusion with RAMs.…”

“…Smaller aneurysms, known as microaneurysms, usually involve capillaries and are associated with ischemic conditions such as diabetes and retinal vein occlusions [ 3 ]. Large dilations of the capillary system, known as retinal capillary macroaneurysms, have also been described; defined in size as larger than 100–300 μm depending on the source [ 3 – 7 ]. While RAMs can cause subretinal, intraretinal and preretinal hemorrhage, exudation and fluid, subretinal fluid in capillary macroaneurysms is rare.…”

Focal Photocoagulation as an Adjunctive Therapy to Reduce the Burden of Intravitreal Injections in Macula Edema Patients, the LyoMAC2 Study

“…The diameter of these microaneurysms is usually less than 90 µm; however, the diameter of some aneurysms can reach up to several hundred microns [ 5 , 6 ]. These large abnormalities, referred to as capillary macroaneurysms (CMA) [ 6 , 7 ] or telangiectatic capillaries [ 8 ] in the medical literature, may be associated with chronic refractory ME and hard exudates [ 5 ]. The prevalence of CMA in diabetic ME (DME) and RVO is about 60%, and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) have been previously shown to effectively detect CMA [ 9 , 10 ].…”