The impact of structural optical coherence tomography changes on visual function in retinal vein occlusion

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a significant cause of vision impairment.
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is crucial for assessing RVO-related retinal changes.
• Understanding factors affecting visual acuity in RVO is vital for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between OCT-derived morphological features, demographic factors, and baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in treatment-naïve RVO patients.
• To identify specific OCT biomarkers associated with visual function in Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion (BRVO) and Central Retinal Vein Occlusion (CRVO).

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional, posthoc analysis of OCT images from RVO patients in two prospective studies.
• Manual morphological grading of OCT images by a reading center.
• Quantification of the association between OCT biomarkers, demographic data, and BCVA (measured in Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters).

Main Results:

• Central subfield thickness (CST), subretinal fluid (SRF), and hyperreflective foci (HRF) on OCT showed significant correlations with BCVA in BRVO and the overall cohort.
• Increased CST and presence of HRF were associated with worse BCVA, while SRF was linked to better BCVA.
• Age and female gender were also correlated with decreased BCVA in the total RVO cohort.

Conclusions:

• Central subfield thickness (CST) and patient age are consistently associated with worse best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in treatment-naïve RVO patients.
• OCT-based morphological parameters explain a modest proportion of the functional vision loss observed in RVO.
• Further research may be needed to identify additional factors influencing visual outcomes in RVO.