Comparison of subfoveal choroidal thickness in eyes with CRVO and BRVO

Abstract

Backgroud: To evaluate the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in eyes with macular edema (ME) secondary to retinal vein occlusion（RVO），and to investigate the short term response after a single intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) injection. What is more, to compare SFCT and SFCT change between central RVO (CRVO) and branch RVO (BRVO). Methods: In the retrospective study, we had collected thirty-six treatment-naïve patients with unilateral ME secondary to RVO (including nineteen CRVO and seventeen BRVO). All patients had received IVR injection after newly diagnosed. The SFCT was measured at the onset and after two weeks of IVR injection. Paired t test was performed to compare the SFCT of RVO eyes and fellow eyes, as well as the SFCT of pre-injection and post-injection. In further, independent t test was used to compare SFCT and SFCT change between CRVO eyes and BRVO eyes. Results: The mean SFCT at the onset was 326.03±30.86 μm in CRVO eyes, which was significantly thicker than that in contralateral fellow eyes (p<0.01, paired t test), and reduced to 294.15±30.83 μm rapidly after two weeks of IVR injection (p<0.01, paired t test). Similarly, the SFCT in BRVO eyes was significantly thicker than that in contralateral eyes at the onset, and decreased significantly after IVR injection. However, our findings showed that there was no statistically significant difference in SFCT and SFCT reduction after IVR injection between CRVO eyes and BRVO eyes. Conclusions: The SFCT in eyes with ME secondary to CRVO and BRVO was significantly thicker than that in fellow eyes, and decreased significantly within a short time in response to a single IVR injection. In further, the study showed that SFCT and SFCT change had no correlation with RVO subtypes.

Correlations between choroidal thickness and renal function in patients with retinal vein occlusion

“…Tang et al reported that SFChT was significantly thicker in eyes with RVO than in fellow eyes 9 . These inconsistencies in SFChT in eyes with RVO suggest that it is affected by some confounding factors 8 , 9 . Thus, these are the reasons why we have tried to reveal the effects of systemic factors in patients with RVO.…”

“…In addition, we found that SFChT was greater in eyes with RVO than in normal fellow eyes. Several studies reported that the choroid was significantly thicker in eyes with RVO or the occlusive area than in contralateral eyes or the non-occlusive area 9 , 24 – 26 . Our results were consistent with these studies.…”

“…Du et al reported that SFChT was significantly thinner in the RVO group than in the control group 8 . Tang et al reported that SFChT was significantly thicker in eyes with RVO than in fellow eyes 9 . These inconsistent reports of SFChT in eyes with RVO suggest that it is affected by some confounding factors 8 , 9 .…”

“…Tang et al reported that SFChT was significantly thicker in eyes with RVO than in fellow eyes 9 . These inconsistent reports of SFChT in eyes with RVO suggest that it is affected by some confounding factors 8 , 9 . Moreover, Balmforth et al reported that choroidal thickness is associated with renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) 10 .…”

“…With recent technical developments, enhanced depth imaging OCT and swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) can visualize the deep choroid layer with accurate segmentation and high clarity 8 . Using these techniques, several studies have reported changes in sub-foveal choroidal thickness (SFChT) in eyes with RVO 8 , 9 . However, they have reported inconsistent findings.…”