The Systemic and Ocular Risk Factors for Retinal Vein Occlusion: A Retrospective Study

Abstract BACKGROUND: We sought to evaluate the systemic and ocular risk factors for severity on visual acuity and central retinal thickness in macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO-ME). METHODS: This retrospective study included 46 RVO-ME patients in The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2015 to November 2019. Systemic examinations include blood pressure, blood glucose, blood lipids, vascular endothelial function, and carotid artery color ultrasound. Ocular examinations include the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the central retinal thickness (CRT). The integrity of the outer retina was evaluated as well. According to the baseline BCVA and CRT levels, the patients were divided into high vision group and low vision group, high CRT group, and low CRT group. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the risk factors on baseline BCVA and CRT.RESULTS: We enrolled 19 eyes of CRVO (central retinal vein occlusion) and 27 eyes of BRVO (branch retinal vein occlusion). We identified 31 (67.4%) as high CRT and 23 (50.0%) as poor VA of 46 patients on admission. There were 15 cases of BRVO in the high CRT group (48.4%) and 12 cases in the low CRT group (80.0%). The type of disease (BRVO/CRVO) was an independent factor of baseline CRT (P=0.017). Endothelial dysfunction correlates with baseline BCVA independently (P=0.038). Ellipsoidal zone (EZ) destruction was found in 19 cases (82.6%) in the low vision group and 6 cases (26.1%) in the high vision group. EZ integrity correlates with baseline BCVA independently (P=0.017). CONCLUSION: The central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) has markedly higher CRT than branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Endothelial dysfunction and disrupted ellipsoidal zone were significantly associated with poor baseline VA on admission.