Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with unilateral retinal vein occlusion

Jayoung Ahn,Daniel Duck-Jin Hwang

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97693-7

Jayoung Ahn, Daniel Duck-Jin Hwang

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97693-7

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Sep 13, 2021
Citations: 5	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Nune Eye Hospital, Catholic Kwandong University

Abstract

This study evaluated longitudinal changes in peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness in eyes affected with branch and central retinal vein occlusion (BRVO and CRVO, respectively) and fellow eyes. This retrospective case–control study included patients with newly diagnosed unilateral BRVO (46 patients) or unilateral CRVO (27 patients). The control group included 48 patients without abnormal findings on the fundus examination. Global and all-sector pRNFL thicknesses were greater in eyes with BRVO and CRVO than in fellow eyes at baseline; however, at 24 months, this difference remained only in the temporal sector of eyes affected with CRVO. Although the global pRNFL thicknesses of the fellow eyes in the BRVO and CRVO groups decreased significantly at 24 months compared to baseline (p = 0.001 and p = 0.011, respectively), there was no significant difference in the normal control group (p = 0.824). The global, inferior temporal, and inferior nasal pRNFL thicknesses at 12 and 24 months were significantly lower in the fellow eyes of the CRVO group than in those of the BRVO and normal control groups. The fellow eyes of patients with BRVO and CRVO suffered a significant reduction in pRNFL thickness compared to normal controls, indicating that they are susceptible to pRNFL damage.

Highlights

This study evaluated longitudinal changes in peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in eyes affected with branch and central retinal vein occlusion (BRVO and CRVO, respectively) and fellow eyes
Kim et al.[14] classified Retinal vein obstruction (RVO) according to the location of the occluded vein as arteriovenous crossing RVO (AV-RVO), optic nerve site RVO (ON-RVO), or optic nerve site RVO with optic nerve swelling (ONHSRVO), to subsequently perform a subgroup analysis; they found no difference in the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness between the AV-RVO and ON-RVO groups
In the branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) group, the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the affected eyes had improved significantly at 24 months compared to baseline, whereas in the fellow eyes it showed no significant change (Table 5)

Summary

Introduction

This study evaluated longitudinal changes in peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness in eyes affected with branch and central retinal vein occlusion (BRVO and CRVO, respectively) and fellow eyes. Kim et al.[14] classified RVO according to the location of the occluded vein as arteriovenous crossing RVO (AV-RVO), optic nerve site RVO (ON-RVO), or optic nerve site RVO with optic nerve swelling (ONHSRVO), to subsequently perform a subgroup analysis; they found no difference in the pRNFL thickness between the AV-RVO and ON-RVO groups Given that this was a cross-sectional study and, focused solely on the moment of diagnosis, follow-up changes were not included. Patients with ONHSRVO (five eyes) were excluded from analysis because of the small sample size

Methods

Results

Conclusion