Abstract
Purpose :
To determine whether anatomical features of the choroid can predict the number of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections for the treatment of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).
Methods :
OCT scans of 45 patients (49 eyes) with macular edema secondary to BRVO were analyzed for a mean duration of 22 ± 11 months. The number of injections was divided by the observation period for standardization. Using the median number of injections per period, patients were separated into two groups - “low injection” and “high injection”. ImageJ/FIJI was used to measure the choroidal region of interest, centered within 5,000 µm of the fovea, and for binarization of the images via the Niblack method. The choroidal vascularity index (CVI) was calculated as the ratio of luminal choroidal area (LCA) to total choroidal area (TCA). Stromal choroidal area (SCA), stromal area percent (SAP), and luminal to stromal ratio (LSR) were also calculated. Differences between the anatomical parameters of the high and low injection groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney-U test.
Results :
The mean CVI was 67.85 ± 4.75% and the mean LSR was 2.18 ± 0.52. No significant difference was found between the low and high injection groups for mean CVI (68.46 ± 4.31% vs. 67.20 ± 5.22%, p = 0.46), SAP (31.54 ± 4.31% vs. 32.80 ± 5.22%, p = 0.46), LSR (2.24 ± 0.51 vs. 2.13 ± 0.54, p = 0.46), TCA (1,033,160 ± 211,308 µm2 vs. 1,062,734 ± 274,200 µm2, p = 0.73), SCA (329,053 ± 93,575 µm2 vs. 352,010 ± 115,368 µm2, p = 0.57), or LCA (704,108 ± 132,519 µm2 vs. 710,724 ± 175,570 µm2, p = 0.86), respectively.
Conclusions :
The choroidal anatomical parameters analyzed in this study failed to predict the number of anti-VEGF injections received by patients with macular edema secondary to BRVO.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.