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

• Published in: Acta ophthalmologica (Oxford, England) Vol. 99; no. 4; pp. 418 - 426
• Main Authors: Michl, Martin, Liu, Xuhui, Kaider, Alexandra, Sadeghipour, Amir, Gerendas, Bianca S., Schmidt‐Erfurth, Ursula
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.06.2021; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Acuity; biomarker; Cysts; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetic retinopathy; function; morphology; Occlusion; optical coherence tomography; Original; Retina; retinal vein occlusion; Retinopathy; Statistical analysis; Tomography; Visual perception
• ISSN: 1755-375X; 1755-3768
• DOI: 10.1111/aos.14621

Purpose We aimed to determine the correlation between optical coherence tomography (OCT)‐ and demographic features and baseline best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in treatment‐naïve patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO). Methods This was a cross‐sectional posthoc analysis of OCT images that included RVO patients from two prospective, open‐label, multicentre studies. The morphological grading was done manually, in the standardized setting of a reading centre. Main outcome measure was the estimated difference in Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters associated with each individual biomarker. Results Included were 381/301 treatment‐naïve patients with BRVO/CRVO. For BRVO, statistically significant correlations with BCVA were seen for a 100 µm increase in central subfield thickness (CST; −3.1 letters), intraretinal cysts at centre point (CP; +4.1), subretinal fluid (SRF) at CP (+3.0) and hyperreflective foci (HRF) at the central B‐scan (−2.2). In CRVO, a 100 µm increase in CST was associated with a loss of −3.4 letters. In the total cohort, 100 µm increase in CST, SRF at CP and HRF at the central B‐scan correlated with a difference of −3.2,+3.2 and −2.0 letters. A 10‐year increase in age and female gender yielded a −2.0 and −2.5 letter decrease in the total cohort. Adjusted multiple R2 for the respective group was 18.3%/26.3%/23.5%. Conclusions Of all parameters studied, only CST and age were consistently associated with worse BCVA in treatment‐naïve RVO patients. Morphology on OCT explained only a modest part of functional loss in this patient cohort.