[Treatment of central retinal vein occlusion by isovolemic hemodilution]

Evaluate the effects of hemodilution in the treatment of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).

We carried out a retrospective, noncomparative study of 25 patients presenting unilateral CRVO, treated with one to three hemodilution sessions. The patients were re-examined in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 12th months following treatment with measurement of visual acuity, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography.

Our study included 17 men and eight women, averaging 63 years of age (range, 35-87 years), and monitored for an average of 7 months (range, 3-12 months). After the 6th month following treatment, average visual acuity improved compared to initial visual acuity. Initial visual acuity of less than 1/10, with the existence of poorly irrigated areas in the angiography, presented negative prognosis factors. The number of hemodilutions did not produce a significant difference in final visual acuity. No serious complications due to hemodilution were observed.

Treatment of CRVO is subject to debate. Some practitioners recommend against treatment, while others advocate intervention and offer laser-induced chorioretinal venous anastomosis. Surgical vitrectomy and radial optical neurotomy, with or without injection of triamcinolone, await evaluation. Hemodilution may offer a therapeutic approach to this pathology, in which the etiopathogenesis is not yet recognized, but in which blood viscosity plays a key role. This treatment is well tolerated.

Hemodilutions appear to have beneficial effects in treating CRVO, whatever the number of hemodilutions used. This study should be confirmed by a prospective study using an untreated control group.