Surgical decompression of branch retinal vein occlusions

Many patients with branch retinal vein occlusions can develop significant long-term diminution of vision due to such complications as macular edema, retinal neovascularization, and vitreous hemorrhage. One of us (S.C.) developed a new surgical procedure that involves sectioning or decompression of the common sheath connecting the artery and vein at the crossing where a branch retinal vein occlusion occurs. The patient whose case we report had a visual acuity improvement from 20/200-2 to 20/25+1 eight months after surgery.