Abstract
Purpose::
To assess central retinal vein occlusion that occurred in five young, healthy patients after periods of intense exercise.
Methods::
Retrospective chart review. Six eyes of five patients with central retinal vein occlusion following exercise were assessed. Visual acuity (VA), intraocular pressures (IOP), neovascularization (NV) as well as optical coherence tomography (OCT) of all six eyes were recorded and subsequent VA, NV, IOP, OCT from follow-up visits were assessed. One eye had no light perception (NLP) vision at the time of diagnosis and was excluded from statistical calculations of visual acuity.
Results::
Patients were all males without any significant past medical history. Mean age of the patients was 36.8 years. Out of six eyes with decreased vision four were the right eye and two were the left eye. The mean duration of symptoms prior to examination was 46.93 weeks and the average time that patients were followed up was 170 days. The average value and standard deviation of visual acuity were calculated using the logMAR values. The average logMAR value and standard deviation of VA were 0.033 ± 0.20.The decimal acuity was 0.9267 ± 2.0 lines and the Snellen equivalent was 20/21.6 ± 2.0 lines. Mean of IOP was 16.79 with standard deviation of 6.16. The range of IOP was 23 mm Hg. The central retinal thickness as measured by optical coherence tomography ranged from 234 to 700 microns.
Conclusions::
Central retinal vein occlusion may occur in young healthy patients following intense exercise. The exact precipitating event is unknown, but may be a combination of factors including transiently increased intravascular and intraocular pressure, dehydration, and increased blood viscosity.
Keywords: vascular occlusion/vascular occlusive disease • low vision • quality of life