Thrombus and branch retinal vein occlusion

Branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) is often associated with arteriosclerosis. Typically the occlusion occurs at an arteriovenous crossing. We report a case of a previously healthy patient who developed a BRVO. Funduscopy and fluorescein angiography suggested an intravascular thrombus as the cause of the occlusion. The investigations performed were positive for systemic hypertension and hyperlipidaemia. After 2 months, fundus examination revealed disappearance of the intravascular thrombus, resolution of the macular edema and improvement of the — visual acuity. Certain physiological characteristics of the retinal circulation associated with hyperlipidaemia and systemic hypertension appear to favour thrombus formatio

Cavernous sinus thrombosis elicited by a central retinal vein venous stasis retinopathy

Background: Central retinal vein occlusion is a relatively common retinal disorder in the elderly, and those with cardiovascular or thrombophilic risk factors are at increased risk. Although still unsatisfying, some treatments for the acute and chronic phases have been established based on randomized studies. However, for rare conditions mimicking central retinal vein occlusion, treatment of the acute phase should be targeted at etiology. A rare condition mimicking central retinal vein occlusion in a 70-year-old man is presented and discussed. Methods: A 70-year-old man was admitted to the hospital for isovolemic hemodilution related to a central retinal vein occlusion of the elderly, after a sudden decrease in visual acuity to 0.1. Results: Clinical and laboratory work-up demonstrated a venous stasis retinopathy, related to an atypical cavernous sinus thrombosis of undetermined origin. The patient had experienced in the past 6 months intermittent diplopia and an irreducible conjunctival hyperemia. Hemodilution was dismissed. Soon after initiation of anticoagulation therapy, the patient's clinical signs and symptoms improved. Final visual acuity was 0.8. Conclusion: Venous stasis retinopathy secondary to cavernous sinus thrombosis is rare. However, careful clinical examination and extensive laboratory work-up is needed to exclude central retinal vein occlusion not associated with common vascular pathologies of the elderl

Effet de l'hémodilution isovolémique dans le traitement de la phase aiguë des occlusions de la veine centrale de la rétine: une étude pilote

INTRODUCTION: Cases series and randomized studies support the use of isovolumic hemodilution at the acute phase of the central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). However, a recent meta-analysis showed the difficulty of interpreting the long-term effect of isovolumic hemodilution because of the late complications and the concomitant use of other treatments. We present here a pilot case-series study aiming to demonstrate the effect of isovolumic hemodilution at the acute phase of the disease, before any other treatment was applied. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Twenty-two consecutive cases of CRVO were prospectively treated with isovolumic hemodilution within 15 days of disease onset (substitution of 10 ml/kg of blood by a macromolecular solution (Voluven), aiming at a hematocrit of 35%). The treatment was performed in ambulatory conditions after excluding common contraindications (cardiac, respiratory and renal insufficiency, angina pectoris, history of heart attack or stroke during the last 6 months). The patients were followed prospectively with respect to visual acuity, fluorescein angiography and visual acuity at one week, one month, three months and twelve months. RESULTS: Visual acuity improved of at least one ETDRS line (5 letters) in 59% of the patients one week after the treatment. Improvement in the haemodynamic was observed in all these cases on fluorescein angiography. The vision remained stable at 1 month and 3 months before any other treatment was applied. After the 3rd month, additional intravitreous injection of triamcinolone was applied in 32% of eyes for persistent macular edema. At 12 months after hemodilution, visual acuity improved in 64% of cases and only 5% of the eyes converted into an ischemic CRVO. DISCUSSION: Isovolumic hemodilution at the acute phase of the CRVO is followed by an improvement in both vision and angiographic characteristics in more than 60% of our patients and the conversion into an ischemic form was limited to 5% of eyes. Further randomized studies are needed to evaluate the specific effect of hemodilution in the long term

Retinal angiomatous proliferations: when should we suspect them and how should we detect them?

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify the clinical and angiographic features of retinal angiomatous proliferations (RAPs) in patients with age-related macular degeneration. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 26 eyes of 24 patients with RAPs were retrospectively reviewed. All patients had colour and red-free photographs, and fluorescein (FA) and indocyanine-green angiography (ICGA). The biomicroscopic and angiographic characteristics were evaluated and video-angiograms were analysed for staging the RAPs. RESULTS: The total number of RAPs was 29. Stage 1 was present in 3/29, stage 2 in 3/29 and stage 3 in 23/29 with a chorio-retinal anastomosis identified in 21 of these 23 eyes. The total number of retinal vessels involved were 83, 35 were arteries and 48 were veins. RAPs were seen in ICGA as hot spots in all but one case where it appeared as a plaque. A retinal pigment epithelial detachment (PED) was observed in 22/26 eyes. Cystoid macular oedema was observed in 13/26 eyes in FA and intraretinal ICG leakage in 6/26 eyes. Hard exudates were present in 21/26 eyes. Retinal haemorrhages were present in 23/26 eyes; all but one were intraretinal and had a size of less than half of the optic disc diameter. The RAP was bilateral in 2/24 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should suspect the diagnosis of RAP when hard exudates, small intraretinal haemorrhages, PED or a hot spot in ICGA are present. Both fluorescein and ICG video-angiography provide adequate temporal resolution and vascular flow examination leading to easier RAP staging and identification of the anastomosis

Surgical and Visual Outcome for Recurrent Retinal Detachment Surgery

Purpose. To evaluate the anatomical and functional outcome of repeated surgeries for recurrent retinal detachment. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 70 cases with refractory retinal detachment of various etiologies that required multiple operations. Anatomical success (attached retina) or failure (totally/partially-detached retina) was assessed biomicroscopically. The BCVA was used for the evaluation of the functional outcome, at presentation and at the end of follow-up. Various pre-, intra-, and postoperative factors were associated with anatomical success or failure as well as with final functionality. Results. The mean number of surgeries was 4 (range: 2 to 10). The anatomical success rate was 80% (56 attached cases, 14 detached cases). 29% of the attached cases had a BCVA better than 20/40 (Snellen chart). The number of operations doesn’t seem to affect significantly the final visual acuity. The PVR was found to affect both the anatomical and functional outcome (P=0.014 & P=0.002, respectively). Conclusions. In the present study, it is suggested that multiple operations for refractory retinal detachment may result in successful anatomic results, with a fare functional outcome at the same time. Eventually, we verified that the existence of PVR worsens the prognosis