Clinical Features of Central Retinal Vein Occlusion With Inflammatory Etiology.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to characterize central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) with inflammatory etiology. A retrospective study. We retrospectively reviewed 51 eyes of 48 patients with CRVO between 2004 and 2009 and investigated whether they had inflammatory findings related to retinal vasculitis, that is, severe peripheral retinal vascular changes based on fluorescein angiography and anterior vitreous cells. The extent of vascular leakage was classified as "mild," "moderate," and "severe" in angiographic images. Six eyes of 5 patients (11.8%) had both inflammatory criteria. All patients were male and with a diagnosis of ischemic CRVO. No causative etiology was detected in any patient. The mean age was 46.4 (SD, 23.3) years. The age range was not limited to young generation. These patients received systemic corticosteroid therapy with a mean follow-up period of 41.8 months. The mean logMAR visual acuity [1.29 (SD, 0.77)] and central retinal thickness [1290.5 (SD, 399.0) μm)] at the initial visit were significantly (P = 0.004 and P = 0.001) improved at the final visit [0.94 (SD, 0.69) and 266.7 (SD, 135.4) μm, respectively]. Central retinal vein occlusion with idiopathic inflammatory conditions appears to have clinical characteristics of broad age range and good response to systemic corticosteroid therapy.