Clinical study of branch retinal vein occlusion

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONRVO has been recognized as a distinct entity described as "retinal apoplexy, by Leibreich in 1854 and "haemorrhagic retinitis" by Leber in 1877. 1 Retinal vein occlusions (RVO) are the second commonest cause of reduced vision amongst retinal vascular diseases. Branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) is around three times more prevalent than central retinal vein occlusion and the fifth most frequent cause of blindness.2-4 A western Australian report estimates that annual incidence of blindness due to BRVO is 0.41 %. 5RVO is an obstruction of the retinal venous system by a thrombus, vasculitis or by the external compression of the vein wall and the most common region of BRVO is at the arteriovenous crossing where the artery and vein share a common adventitial sheath. 6,7 BRVO typically occurs in the middle aged and elderly patients (>50 yrs) with male predominance. [8][9][10][11][12] The predominant risk factors are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, primary glaucoma and hyperlipidaemia. [7][8][9][10][11] Hypertension being the predominant risk factor among cardiovascular diseases. Neither high body mass index nor use of oestrogen or birth control pills showed any significant association with BRVO. 13,14 On Pubmed search it was found that there is paucity of Indian data regarding demographic characteristics, ABSTRACTBackground: Many large case series about demographic characteristics and association of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) with systemic diseases have been published in the western population. However this pattern of demographic characteristics in the developed countries may not be representative of epidemiology of disease in the developing countries because of the real paucity of reports from these areas. The study is therefore aimed at evaluating demographic characteristics, to identify the common systemic or ocular risk factors and common clinical presentation of BRVO patients. Methods: Hundred consecutive newly diagnosed cases of BRVO were included in this study. A complete ophthalmic evaluation was done after obtaining informed consent. A complete history both ocular and medical with emphasis on hypertension, diabetes and symptoms concerning glaucoma were taken. Results: Out of 100 patients 80 were males and 20 were females. Average age of total patients was 62. Commonest mode of presentation was diminution of vision in 80 patients followed by floaters in 10 patients. About 10 patients were asymptomatic at the time of presentation. Out of 100 patient 80 were hypertensives, 10 were diabetics and deranged lipid level was found in 38 patients. Raised imtraocular pressure (IOP) was found in 10 patients, shorter axial length in 40 and no other ocular association was found in 50 patients. Conclusions: From this study we conclude that it is a disease of elderly age group and hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, shorter axial length are associated risk factors in patients with BRVO and must be looked for in such cases.

Demographic Profile of Patients With Retinal Vein Occlusion-an Observational Study

“…Because of their asymptomatic nature, the nasal BRVO is less diagnosed and reported. These ndings are in concordance with the 2,3,9,10,12,18,[25][26][27]30 result from many other similar studies. In CRVO, 50% (9/18) of the patients were aged less than 60 years.…”