Experimental Retianl Vein Occlusion in Albino Rats

ABSTRACT

The retinal vein occlusion is one of the most common, vision-threatening retinal diseases, and the establishment of animal model in rats will be of great help for further study. We occluded retinal veins with rose bengal dye injection followed by argon green laser photocoagulation in albino rats and confirmed the occlusion of veins with fluorescein angiography one hour after photocoagulation. We occluded half of an all of major retinal veins in 12 eyes, respectively. After 1-2 weeks of follow-up, histologic examinations were done. Eyes which underwent occlusion of all major retinal veins showed severe retinal atrophy and preretinal neovas-cularization developed in two eyes. Eyes which underwent occlusion of half of retinal veins showed relatively less damage and the number of retinal ganglion cells was significantly reduced in occluded area than that in control area (P=0.0033), which might represent the ischemic damage of inner retina. We expect that it will be possible to establish an animal model of retinal vein occlusion in albino rats using this method.