Optic disc morphology in unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion using spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to evaluate the association between optic nerve head (ONH) parameters and branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).MethodsBoth eyes of 40 patients with unilateral BRVO (mean age: 67.4 ± 11.4 years, male: female - 18:22) were enrolled in this study. Control group consisted of randomly selected single healthy eyes of 40 age and gender matched volunteers (mean age: 64.7 ± 15.4 years, male: female - 16:24). ONH parameters (including optic disc area, optic cup area, neuroretinal rim area, cup volume, rim volume, cup-disc area ratio, horizontal and vertical cup-disc ratio, average retinal nerve fiber layer) were measured by SD-OCT. Axial length (AL) of the eyes was measured by non-contact optical low coherence reflectometry. The ONH parameters of eyes with BRVO were compared with those of fellow eyes using mixed model, one-way between-groups analysis of covariance was conducted to compare the ONH parameters of affected and unaffected fellow eyes in BRVO patients with those of the control eyes keeping confounding factors, including AL, age and gender under control in the statistical analysis.ResultsNone of the investigated ONH parameters of affected BRVO eyes, unaffected fellow eyes and control eyes were statistically different after controlling for AL, age and gender.ConclusionOptic disc morphology might not be a potential anatomical predisposing factor for development of BRVO.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12886-015-0165-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Peripapillary Microvasculature of the Retina and Choriocapillaris in Uninvolved Fellow Eyes of Unilateral Retinal Vein Occlusion Patients

“…Acute edematous changes and subsequent thinning of the RNFL could have caused this. Szigeti et al 20 reported that optic nerve head parameters, including the neuroretinal rim area, cup-to-disc area ratio, and RNFL thickness, of uninvolved fellow eyes and control eyes were not statistically different after controlling for axial length, age, and sex. These findings suggest that structural changes of the retinal layers could be within an undetectable range despite the presence of microvascular changes.…”

“…Previously, studies of RVO fellow eyes mainly aimed to reveal the cooccurrence of glaucoma and RVO in one patient because an increased risk of primary open angle glaucoma development in patients with RVO were reported by major epidemiologic studies. 4,[17][18][19][20][21] The vascular theory, which is the most widely recognized hypothesis regarding cooccurrence, 9,17 suggests that disturbance of the peripapillary blood circulation in both eyes of patients with RVO produces hypoxic damage of the optic nerve head, leading to glaucoma. The disturbance could be derived from certain systemic risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and atherosclerosis, which are commonly associated with RVO.…”

New Developments in the Classification, Pathogenesis, Risk Factors, Natural History, and Treatment of Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion

“…Hayreh et al considered it as a separate type since its pathogenesis is quite similar to CRVO [10]. With the help of basic technology such as fundus photography, fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), visual field testing, and full-field electroretinogram (ff-ERG), BRVO and macular edema are usually easy to diagnose and classify [11–14]. In addition, new technology such as OCT angiography (OCTA) can measure vascular density and the foveal avascular zone.…”

Retinal vein occlusions associated or complicated with glaucoma. Aspects of prediction and paths of progression

“…Similar results have been described by Ahn J et al in 2021 [ 12 ]. Some authors believe that retinal nerve fiber layer thinning should be considered the “natural course after branch retinal vein occlusions” [ 13 ], meanwhile others tried to underline that “optic disc swelling can cause difficulties in evaluating ONH parameters” [ 14 ]. Moreover, our study showed that no statistical differences between affected eyes with preexisting glaucoma and affected eyes without preexisting glaucoma have been found, which demonstrates that an associated glaucoma with a proper control of the intraocular pressure will not accelerate or have a direct contribution on the nerve fiber layer thinning throughout the years.…”