Abstract
Purpose: :
To examine the influence of branch retinal vein occlusion on the retinal nerve fiber
Methods: :
During January 2005 to May 2008, records of patients who had received unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion treatments were reviewed retrospectively. Data analysis were conducted when retinal hemorrhage and edema were completely resolved, and stable vision was maintained for at least 2 months. Total of 78 patients with unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion were examined, and the final sample included forty-five patients. Medical records of the final sample were reviewed to compare the thickness of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer(RNFL) in affected eye and healthy eye. The peripapillary RNFL thickness was measured with Optical Coherence Tomography. Following were compared between affected eye and healthy eye; 1) overall average thickness of peripapillary RNFL, 2) sectoral thickness of peripapillary RNFL corresponding to the occluded area, 3) overall average and sectoral thickness of peripapillary RNFL by the prescence of retinal ischemia. T-test was used to analyze the data.
Results: :
Final sample included forty-five patients. The mean age for the participants was 59 years old. Of those 45, twenty-five participants were males and twenty were females. The affected eyes were 27 right eyes and 18 left eyes. The site of occlusion was 36 superotemporal, 7 inferotemporal, and 2 inferonasal branch retinal vein. The types of perfusion were 15 cases of ischemic and 30 cases of nonischemic occlusion. No difference was found between affected eye and healthy eye when overall average thickness of peripapillary RNFL was measured (affected eye 97.74+12.00µm, healthy eye 94.04+13.65µm, p>0.635). In addition, no difference was found between affected eye and healthy eye when sectoral thickness of peripapillary RNFL corresponding to the occluded area was measured (affected eye 88.27+25.89µm, healthy eye 103.16+19.46µm, p>0.187). Next, type of branch retinal vein occlusion was divided into ischemic group and nonischemic group. In each group, overall average thickness of peripapillary RNFL and sectoral thickness of peripapillary RNFL were compared between affected eye and healthy eye. However, no statistical difference was found in each group.
Conclusions: :
Based on the findings from this study, it can be concluded that branch retinal vein occlusion dose not damage the retinal nerve fiver in the area of occlusion.
Keywords: optic disc • nerve fiber layer • imaging/image analysis: clinical