Aspect of The Macular Region in Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography in Retinal Vein Occlusions

Abstract

Introduction: Macular edema is the main cause of decreased visual acuity following retinal vein occlusions. We propose to study at the macular level the changes of retinal layers in OCT. Material and method: This are a retrospective study of 43 patients with secondary macular edema to retinal vein occlusion (15 occlusions of the central vein and 28 venous occlusions). We analyzed the different modifications of the outer layers of the macula. Results: The nuclear layer appears irregular and of abnormal density. The cystoid cubicles disorganize the outer nuclear layers. The outer limiting is fragmented and disappears in places, and the interface outer segments / inner segments appear thickened hyperdense and irregular. In our study, only ECF is statistically significantly associated with a decrease in visual acuity. Discussion: Preliminary results of this study in agreement with what is currently admitted show retinal changes during venous occlusion of the retina. Conclusion: The high resolution of the SD-OCT allowed analyzing the changes in the reflectivity at the level of the retinal layers, evoking alterations in the normal structure of photoreceptors related to macular edema. The evolution of these modifications seems to be correlated with the visual prognosis. A longer-term prospective study would formalize this relationship between imaging and prognosis.