RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSIONS BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: Visual Outcomes and Treatment Patterns in a Country with no Mandatory Lockdown.

Abstract

To investigate the incidence, treatment patterns, and visual outcomes in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and central RVO before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a country with no mandatory lockdown. This retrospective study included 788 patients presenting with a RVO during the years 2019 to 2022 at St. Erik Eye Hospital. The control group and study groups consisted of patients presenting before and during the pandemic, respectively. The incidence of diagnosed RVO cases decreased from 281 patients before the pandemic to 236 patients during the first year of the pandemic ( P < 0.05). In patients with branch RVO at the end of follow-up, the best-corrected visual acuity improved 10.3 letters (95% confidence intervals [CI] 7.6-12.9) in the control group compared with 14.3 letters (95% CI 12.6-16.0) in the study groups ( P < 0.05). In patients with central RVO, the best-corrected visual acuity improved 6.3 letters (95% CI 2.7-10.0) in the control group compared with 8.6 letters (95% CI 5.7-11.4) in the study groups (p = NS). Overall, the number of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections increased from 7.0 (95% CI 6.6-7.3) in the control group to 7.6 (95% CI 7.4-7.8) in the study groups ( P < 0.05). Good visual and anatomical outcomes were sustained, and the number of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections increased significantly in patients with RVO during the COVID-19 pandemic.