Characteristics of major and macular branch retinal vein occlusion

Abstract

We compared the aqueous profiles, baseline characteristics, and clinical outcomes of 54 eyes with macular edema secondary to major branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and macular BRVO. We also identified the characteristics of poor responders to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections. Aqueous inflammatory cytokine and VEGF concentrations were significantly higher in major BRVO. In optical coherence tomography, major BRVO had a higher proportion with subretinal fluid, disorganization of retinal inner layers, and ellipsoid zone disruption. Comparing the clinical outcomes, major BRVO required more intravitreal anti-VEGF injections and had a poorer visual prognosis in the first 12 months. A significantly higher proportion of patients with major BRVO required additional treatments after 6 months compared to macular BRVO. Patients who responded poorly to anti-VEGF had higher aqueous VEGF levels and central subfield thickness (CST) at baseline. In conclusion, major BRVO patients required more and longer treatments, and had worse visual prognoses. BRVO that responds poorly to anti-VEGF had greater CST and higher aqueous VEGF levels at baseline.