Central Retinal Artery Occlusion: Time to Presentation and Diagnosis

To evaluate the presentation patterns of patients diagnosed with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) from 2011 to 2020.

Retrospective cohort study SUBJECTS: The present study was conducted in 484 patients presenting within 30 days of symptom onset with accurate documentation of time of symptom onset, time of presentation to the health care system, and time of presentation to an ophthalmologist.

An independent chart review of patients with CRAO was conducted.

Demographic information including age, sex, and race were collected. Presentation patterns such as time of first symptoms, time of first contact with the health care system, and time of evaluation by an ophthalmologist were analyzed. Additionally, information regarding the medical venue or specialty of initial patient contact was collected.

A total of 247 (51%) patients contacted the health care system within 4.5 hours of system onset, whereas 86 (17.8%) patients waited over 24 hours. Only 81 (32.8%) of the 247 patients who presented within 4.5 hours saw an ophthalmologist within that time frame, whereas 172 (35.5%) of the entire cohort of 484 did not present to an ophthalmologist within 24 hours of vision loss. There was significant variability with regards to medical specialty of initial patient contact, with 292 (60.3%) patients first presenting to an emergency department and 133 (27.5%) patients first presenting to an ophthalmologist. Black and Hispanic patients presented later than patients of White, Asian, or other racial backgrounds (40.4 ± 10.2 hours versus 23.0 ± 3.4 hours, P = 0.05).

Although no level 1 evidence-based treatment is currently available for CRAO, thrombolytic therapy may be promising. Even though over half of patients with CRAO within our institution connected with the health care system within a potential window for thrombolytic therapy, most did not receive a definitive ophthalmic diagnosis within that time frame. Public health educational campaigns and infrastructure optimization must speed up presentation times, decrease the time to ophthalmic diagnosis, and target vulnerable populations to offer and research timely administration of thrombolytic therapy.

The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.