Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion with Progressive Intraretinal Hemorrhage

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical feature and visual prognosis of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) with progressive intraretinal hemorrhage that we happened to meet them in rare incidence. METHODS: Medical records of 91 patients who were diagnosed as BRVO from October 1997 to September 2001, were reviewed retrospectively. Ninety-eight eligible BRVO eyes were assigned to either progression group or control group according to their clinical feature of intraretinal hemorrhage. RESULTS: BRVO with progressive intraretinal hemorrhage was observed at 7 of 98 eyes (7.1%). Interval between initial presentation and progression was variable from 1 week to 3 months. In control group, 50 out of 91 eyes (54.9%) showed improvement of visual acuity at least two lines from the baseline. However, no one got improved visual acuity in progressive group (p=0.005). Final visual acuity of 0.5 or more was achieved in 54 eyes (59.34%) of control group and 1 eyes (14.3%) of progression group (p=0.041). Above data suggest that visual prognosis of progressive BRVO is poorer than that of non-progressive one. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the poor prognosis of BRVO with progressive intraretinal hemorrhage, this portions of BRVO patients might be considered more aggressive treatment such as surgical interventions. Also, additional prudent explanation about visual prognosis and special care must be given to the BRVO patients with progressive intraretinal hemorrhage.