Abstract
Background: :
Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is a common cause of visual loss, thought to arise from vascular obstruction at the level of the lamina cribrosa. To date, no treatment has been proved to improve the final visual acuity (VA) in patients with CRVO. Radial Optic Neurotomy (RON) has been suggested as a surgical technique to release pressure at the level of the scleral canal and thus to improve VA in patients with CRVO. The aim of our study was to determine the efficacy of RON in eyes with ischemic or indeterminate CRVO.
Methods: :
33 patients with ischemic or hemorrhagic CRVO and preoperative VA lower than 20/400 underwent RON. VA score, determination of intraocular pressure (IOP), color fundus photography, and fluorescein angiography (FA) were assessed at baseline and 1, 3 and 6 months after surgery.
Results: :
All patients reached the 6 months follow up examination. Visual stability or improvement was noted in 28 patients (84.8%) 6 months post surgery: 9 patients gained 3 lines while the VA of 19 patients remained stable. Retinochoroidal anastomosis developed in 13 eyes (39.3%) at the site of RON.
Conclusions: :
RON may have a beneficial effect in improving or stabilizing VA in patients with CRVO and lower levels of VA at presentation. Randomized studies are needed to corroborate these findings.
Keywords: vascular occlusion/vascular occlusive disease • vitreoretinal surgery