ObjectiveTo observe the changes of macular microvascular structure in eyes with macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO-ME) after intravitreal injection of conbercept and analyze its relationship with visual function and central retinal thickness (CRT).MethodsA prospective clinical study. From July 2018 to June 2019, 21 eyes of 21 patients with unilateral temporal BRVO-ME diagnosed in the Department of Ophthalmology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital were included in the study. Among them, there were 14 eyes of 14 males and 7 eyes of 7 females; the average age was 58.0±8.3 years. There were 13 eyes and 8 eyes with occlusion of the superior temporal and inferior temporal branches of the retinal vein, respectively. The affected area was defined as the side of the venous obstruction. All the affected eyes underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) examination. The BCVA was tested using the international standard logarithmic visual acuity chart, which was converted into the logarithmic minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) visual acuity during statistical analysis. All the eyes were treated with intravitreal injection of conbercept once a month for 3 months, and then treated as needed. A 3 mm × 3 mm scan centered on fovea was obtained and the vascular density of superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP), fovea avascular zone (FAZ) area, perimeter of FAZ (PERIM), acircularity index (AI), foveal vascular density in a 300 μm wide region around FAZ (FD-300) and central retinal thickness (CRT) were measured. The follow-up time after treatment was 6 months. The vascular density and FAZ parameters were compared before and after treatment by paired t test. The correlations of BCVA, CRT and vascular density, FAZ area and the other parameters at 6 months after treatment were analyzed by linear regression analysis. ResultsBefore treatment, the logMAR BCVA of the eyes was 0.506±0.159, and the CRT was 375.4±81.3 μm; 6 months after treatment, the logMAR BCVA of the eyes was 0.294±0.097, and the CRT was 266.3±46.7 μm. There was a statistically significant difference of logMAR BCVA and CRT between the eyes before and after treatment (t=8.503, 9.843; P＜0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the overall vascular density of SCP and DCP before and 6 months after treatment (t=－0.091, －0.320; P＞0.05). The foveal vascular density decreased, and the difference was statistically significant (t=8.801, 3.936; P＜0.05). The vascular density of DCP of the affected area increased, and the difference was statistically significant (t=－2.198, P＜0.05). Compared with those before treatment, the FAZ area and PERIM of the affected eyes had an increasing trend, while AI and FD-300 had a decreasing trend, and the differences were statistically significant (t=－18.071, －12.835, 2.555, 8.610; P＜0.05). The linear regression analysis showed that BCVA and FAZ area 6 months after treatment have significant correlation (t=2.532, P=0.024). ConclusionCRT decreased and BCVA increased after intravitreal injection of conbercept in BRVO-ME eyes. After treatment, the foveal vascular density of SCP and DCP decreased while the vascular density of DCP of the affected area increased. The FAZ increased and the PERIM and AI decreased during follow-up. The BCVA was significantly correlated with the FAZ area 6 months after treatment.
Objective To observe the serum homocysteine (Hcy) levels in retinal branch vein occlusion (BRVO) patients with with hypertension or non-hypertension. Methods A total of 120 patients (120 eyes) with BRVO were divided into hypertension group [72 eyes, blood pressure 140 - 175/90 - 105 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa)] and non-hypertension group (48 eyes, blood pressure 100 - 139/70 - 88 mmHg). According to the sex and age, 78 patients with hypertensive non-retinal vascular diseases and 48 patients with non-hypertensive and non-retinal vascular diseases were collected by a way of same-size ratio as hypertension control group and non-hypertension control group, respectively. Fasting venous blood was collected from all patients in the morning and serum Hcy levels were measured by rate method. The total Hcy concentration over 15.0 μ mol/L was defined as high level Hcy. Fasting serum glucose and fasting serum lipid were also measured. Measurement data among groups were compared with t test. Results The serum Hcy levels were (26.82±28.0), (8.39±3.11), (21.37±4.24), (9.25±3.31) μmol/L in the hypertension group, hypertension control group, non-hypertension group and non-hypertension control group, respectively. The serum Hcy levels of patients in the hypertension group was significantly higher than that in the hypertension control group (t=3.324, P=0.004). The serum Hcy levels of patients in the non-hypertension group was significantly higher than that in the non-hypertension control group (t=2.216, P=0.049). The serum Hcy levels of patients in the hypertension group was significantly higher than that in the non-hypertension group, but the difference had not statistical significance (t=0.581, P=0.566). Among 120 patients, there were 68 patients (56.67%) with high level of Hcy (40 patients in the hypertension group and 28 patients in the non-hypertension group). Among the 40 patients with high levels of Hcy in the hypertension group, 36 patients were older than 50 years old (90.00%) and 4 patients were less or equal than 50 years old (10.00%). Among the 28 patients with high levels of Hcy in the non-hypertension group, 16 patients were older than 50 years old (57.14%); 12 patients were less or equal than 50 years old (42.86%), whose indexes of serum glucose and serum lipid were not abnormal. There was significant difference in age distribution of patients with high level of Hcy between the hypertension group and the non-hypertension group (χ2=9.882, P=0.002), but there was no significant difference in sex distribution (χ2=2.052, P=0.216). Conclusions The level of serum Hcy increased both in BRVO patients with hypertension and non-hypertension. The indexes of serum glucose and serum lipid were not abnormal in BRVO patients aged less or equal than 50 years old with non-hypertensive except for the increase of serum Hcy level.
Pharmaceutical therapy, including anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment and intravitreal corticosteroids, is the most common treatment for branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and its complications, however there are confusing ideas about the protocol, patient selection, timing and endpoint of this treatment. The disease is easy to relapse with these drugs therapy. Collateral vessel formation was found in patients receiving intravitreal injection of ranibizumab or triamcinolone for BRVO and secondary macular edema. The mechanism of collateral vessel formation has not been carefully investigated. In the past thrombolysis, arteriovenous fasciostomy and laser choroidal retinal vascular anastomosis were used to reconstruct the retinal circulation, but their rationality, effectiveness and safety need to be further were studied. In recent years, because of the key technology is still immature, the artificial vascular bypass surgery experiment is not yet practical, but provides us a new idea worth looking forward to for the treatment of BRVO.
Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is one of the most common retinal vascular diseases causing blindness, macular edema (ME) is often secondary to it, which causes serious visual impairment to patients. Imaging biomarkers in the changes of retina and choroid of ME secondary to RVO (RVO-ME) have important clinical value in the evaluation of condition, curative effect and visual acuity prediction of patients with RVO-ME. Among them, the disorganization of the retinal inner layers, the integrity of external limiting membrane and ellipsoid zone, and the change of central macular thickness are reliable indexes to evaluate the prognosis of visual acuity; hyperreflective foci, subretinal fluid and intraretinal fluid can be used as important parameters to reflect the level of inflammation; prominent middle limiting membrane and paracentral acute middle maculopathy are the objective basis for judging the degree of retinal ischemia; the changes of choroidal vascular index and choroidal thickness also have potential advantages in evaluating the progress of the disease. Accurately grasp the characteristics of biological markers of RVO-ME related optical coherence tomography is conducive to its reasonable and accurate use in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of RVO-ME, and helpful to further explore the pathogenesis of the disease.
Full thickness macular hole (FTMH) is a rare complication of retinal vein occlusion (RVO). These have different characteristics, and may associate with complications of RVO, such as cystoid macular edema and epiretinal membrane, and treatments like intravitreal injection. Although anatomical closure is often obtained with vitrectomy and inner limiting membrane peeling, visual improvement is often variable. Regularly follow-up, medical examination, and vitrectomy can improve the outcomes of patients. In the future, randomized controlled clinical trials with larger sample size are still needed to further explore the pathogenesis, clinical characteristics and treatment methods of FTMH after RVO, so as to improve the clinical prognosis of these patients.
Objective To explore the clinical application value of multifocal oscillatory potentials (MOPs) in retinal vein occlusion (RVO). Methods MOPs were tested using VERIS 4.0 visual evoked response imaging system for 19 cases (19 eyes) of RVO，among them 8 cases of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and 11 cases of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Twenty normal subjects were as normal control group. The stimulative visual angles subtended ±26.6°horizontally and ±22.1°vertically. The filter setting was bandpass 100～1000 Hz. The retinal responses from 103 hexagons were recorded in 4 min (8 segments). Results In normal control group, OP-1, OP-2 and OP-3 were recorded during 37 ms for first order and 47 ms for second order first slice in whole test field and 5 ring retinal regions, the oscillatory wave shapes of second order were clearer than those of first order. In RVO groups, 91.6% latencies of OP-1, OP-2 and OP-3 were delayed, and 70.8% amplitudes of OP-1, OP-2 and OP-3 were reduced. The delay of the latencies and the decrease of the amplitude in CRVO were more markedly than those in BRVO. Conclusion MOPs can be effectively and quantitatively used to evaluate the retinal function of the different location in RVO. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis,2002,18:20-22)
Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second visual threatening retinal disorders followed by diabetic retinopathy in the elderly. In the past decades, increasing knowledge of the natural history, aetiology and risk factors, medical management investigation, together with the support of high level evidence-based medical evidence and the results of real-world clinical trials play key roles in guiding the clinical practice. However, without understanding the pathogenesis and pathogeny of the disease, it is difficult to implement a comprehensive, precise and personalized treatment strategy for the RVO patients. It is of significance in the clinic to discuss the pathological process of RVO, analyze the etiological characteristics of the disease, reveal the clinical outcomes, which aim to facility the optimal treatment and follow-up procedure for the patients.
Objective To investigate the efficacy and the safety of external therapy of ultrasound (ETUS) enhancing thrombolysis on the experimental retinal vein occlusion. Methods The effect of ETUS enhanced thrombolysis and the impact of ultrasound energy and exposure were investigated respectively after both eyes of 51 rabbits with retinal branch vein occlusion created by photodynamic initiated thrombosis were divided into 4 groups. The first 2 groups are the ETUS groups, including one group (15 rabbits) underwent intravenous injection with urokinase (UK) (1700-2200 UK dissolved into 20 ml normal saline), and other group (12 rabbits) underwent intravenous injection with normal saline. In these 2 groups, each rabbit received ETUS treatment (1.0 W/cm2, 20 min) in one eye and the fellow eye did not which was as the control. The latter 2 groups are the energy and duration of ultrasound groups, and 12 rabbits in each group underwent ETUS with the energy of 0.7 and 1.0 W/cm2 respectively. Each of the 2 groups was divided into 3 subgroups (8 rabbits in each) according to the radiated durations (8, 14, and 20 minutes). All of the eyes except the control ones underwent ETUS with 1 MHz ultrasound and 100 Hz pulsed ultrasound once a day for 3 days. Fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) was used to detect the vascular condition 4 days after ETUS, and at the 15th day, retinal light microscopy and electron microscopy were performed. Results The vascular recanalization rate in ETUS+UK treatment group was 66.7%, which is obviously higher than which in single UK group (20.0%, P=0.025), normal saline group (8.3%, P=0.005), and ETUS+ normal saline group (8.3%, P=0.005). The vascular recanalization rates in groups with different energy of ultrasound increased obviously as the radiated durations increased (P=0.006, 0.001), while no apparent effect of energy of ultrasound on the vascular recanalization rate was found in the groups with different radiated duration (Pgt;0.05). The eyes which had undergone ETUS treatment had retinal tissue damage and ultrastructure changes of the retinal ganglion cells (RGC), and deteriorated as the radiated duration increased. Conclusion ETUS may enhance the thrombolysis induced by urokinase in experimental retinal vein occlusion. Simultaneously, ETUS can lead to the damage of retinal tissue and changes of the ultrastructure of RGC. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2007, 23: 166-169)
Objective To observe the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) in aqueous humor of patients with macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). Methods Forty eyes of 40 consecutive patients with macular edema secondary to CRVO (CRVO group) were enrolled in this study. The patients included 25 males and 15 females. The patient age ranged from 38 to 76 years. The control group was 20 patients with senile cataract who underwent phacoemulsification, including 10 males and 10 females. The levels of VEGF165, VEGF165b, IL-6 and MCP-1 in aqueous humor were determined by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. The correlation of VEGF, and IL-6, and MCP-1 were analyzed. Results The median aqueous level of VEGF165, IL-6 and MCP-1 were 1089.0, 165.6, 1253.0 pg/ml respectively in CRVO group, which were higher than the control group's results (168.2, 4.7, 216.4 pg/ml respectively), the differences were statistically significant (Z=-4.549, -6.008, -5.343;P＜0.001). The VEGF165b in CRVO group and control group were 834.0, 915.9 pg/ml respectively, the difference was not statistically significant (Z=-0.207，P＞0.05). The ratio of VEGF165b to VEGF165 in CRVO group and control group were 2.71, 7.28 respectively, the difference was statistically significant (t=-3.007，P＜0.05). There was a highly positive correlation between IL-6 and VEGF in CRVO group (r=0.526,P=0.001) and also mild positive correlation in control group (r=0.425，P=0.070). No correlation between MCP-1 and VEGF was observed in both groups (CRVO group: r=0.211,P＞0.05. Control group: r=-0.019,P＞0.05). Conclusions VEGF165, IL-6 and MCP-1 levels were increased in CRVO patients while the VEGF165b was normal. The ratio between VEGF165b and VEGF165 in aqueous humor of patients with macular edema secondary to CRVO was decreased.
ObjectiveTo observe the short-term efficacy of posterior sub-tenon injection of triamcinolone acetonide (PSTA) in the treatment of macular edema due to ischemic retinal vein occlusions (RVO). MethodsA retrospective clinical study. A total of 53 eyes of 53 patients with RVO macular edema diagnosed by fundus color photography, fundus fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were included in the study. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was detected by the international standard visual acuity chart, and the results were converted to the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) visual acuity. The central macular thickness (CMT) was measured by OCT. Among 53 eyes, there were 27 eyes with ischemic RVO macular edema (ischemic group) and 26 eyes with non-ischemic RVO macular edema (non-ischemic group). The mean logMAR BCVA was 0.82±0.37, mean CMT was (662.1±216.7) μm in ischemic group. The mean logMAR BCVA was 0.41±0.23, mean CMT was (548.0±161.9) μm. The differences of logMAR BCVA and CMT between the two groups were both statistically significant (t=4.745, 2.258; P<0.05). All eyes were treated with a single sub-Tenon injection of 0.4 ml triamcinolone acetonide suspension (100 mg/ml).The mean logMAR BCVA, CMT before and 1, 3 months after the treatment between the two groups were observed and compared. ResultsOn 1 and 3 months after treatment, the mean logMAR BCVA in the non-ischemic group (0.32±0.25 and 0.27±0.29) were improved compared with ischemic group (0.76±0.37 and 0.41±0.79), the difference was statistically significant (t=5.052, 5.240; P<0.05). The mean logMAR BCVA before and after treatment had no statistically significant difference in ischemic group (F=0.516, P>0.05), but had a statistically significant difference in non-ischemic group (F=7.685, P<0.05). On 1 and 3 months after treatment, the mean CMT in the ischemic group were (534.7±223.4), (470.8±234.7) μm, which were lower (127.4±28.28), (191.4±34.55) μm before treatment. In the non-ischemic group, the average CMT was (426.2±188.8), (371.3±200.6) μm, which were lower (103.1±33.1), (164.9±49.6) μm. There were statistically significant differences in the mean CMT between the ischemic group and the non-ischemic group (F=17.040, 10.360; P<0.05). In non-ischemic group, CMT had a bigger reduction compared to the the ischemic group (t=2.056, 2.103; P<0.05). The difference of CMT decrease value between two groups was not statistically significant (t=0.560, 0.441; P>0.05). On 1 month after the treatment, there were 3 and 5 eyes had a higher intraocular pressure than 21 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) in ischemic and non-ischemic group, respectively; but all of them returned to normal after drug treatment. There were no drugs and ocular injection related complications. ConclusionPSTA of ischemic RVO macular edema can lower the CMT in the short term, but can't significant improve the visual acuity.