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Published on: November 6, 2017
Correlation between macular edema recurrence and macular capillary network destruction in branch retinal vein
Ji Hye Jang1,2, Yu Cheol Kim3, Jae Pil Shin4
1Department of Ophthalmology, Keimyung Universtiy School of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea. mjmom99@naver.com.
Background:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between changes in the macular capillary network and macular edema (ME) recurrence with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA).
Methods:
We reviewed the data for 43 patients with treatment-naïve ME associated with BRVO. Patients who received intravitreal bevacizumab injection were divided into two groups based on ME recurrence at 6 months after edema resolution. The perifoveal capillary morphology and the macular capillary vessel density (VD) were retrospectively analyzed using en face SS-OCTA after ME resolution.
Results:
The perifoveal capillary ring loss in the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) was more common in the ME recurrence group (n = 22) than in the no ME recurrence group (p = 0.047 and p = 0.002). Relative to the findings in the no ME recurrence groups, the destruction of the perifoveal capillary ring was more severe in the DCP (30.0° vs 87.3°, p = 0.001) than in the SCP (17.3° vs 69.5°, p = 0.006) in the ME recurrence group. The hemi-VD disparity between the affected and the unaffected areas in the SCP and DCP showed significant differences (p = 0.031 and p = 0.017), while macular VD showed no differences between the groups.
Conclusions:
Destruction of the perifoveal capillary ring and hemi-VD disparity could be related to ME recurrence in BRVO. Therefore, these factors may be helpful in predicting ME recurrence.
