Abstract
Purpose: :
To report quantitative and qualitative baseline optical coherence tomography (OCT) data in consecutive SCORE Study patients with macular edema associated with branch and central retinal vein occlusion.
Methods: :
We analyzed quantitative and qualitative features of 233 baseline OCT scans obtained in consecutive patients enrolled in the SCORE (Standard Care vs. Corticosteroid for Retinal Vein Occlusion) Study. The SCORE Study consists of 2 separate multi–center, randomized trials comparing the safety and efficacy of preservative–free intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection(s) vs. standard care in patients with macular edema associated with branch and central retinal vein occlusion. Entry into the study requires both fast–macular thickness scans and cross–hair scans taken according to the University of Wisconsin Fundus Photograph Reading Center (FPRC) standardized protocol. Center point thickness is determined by the OCT software (Humphrey–Zeiss) or by a manual measurement of the center point. This manual calculation is performed when the center point value has a standard deviation greater than 10%.
Results: :
The mean center point retinal thickness was 489 microns (+ 131 microns) among patients with BRVO and 589 microns (+ 186 microns) among patients with CRVO. Manual measurement was necessary in 30% (42/141) of BRVO scans and 26% (24/92) of CRVO scans due to thick macular blood, large cysts and irregular retinal thickening in the fovea. Qualitative OCT evaluation, based on cross–hair images, revealed subretinal fluid in 12% of BRVO scans and 37% of CRVO scans; epiretinal membranes were noted in 6% of BRVO scans and 5% of CRVO scans.
Conclusions: :
In the SCORE Study to date, over 25% of baseline OCT images require manual measurements of central retinal thickness. Epiretinal membrane is an uncommon baseline finding in BRVO and CRVO scans while subretinal fluid is present in over a third of baseline CRVO scans. Mean central retinal thickness by OCT is greater in CRVO scans than in BRVO scans.
Keywords: vascular occlusion/vascular occlusive disease • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • macula/fovea