Unilateral blurred vision and dilated retinal veins

Patchy ischemic retinal whitening in acute central retinal vein occlusion

OBJECTIVE

To describe a new fundus abnormality in nonischemic central retinal vein occlusion and its pathophysiologic basis.

DESIGN

Retrospective, observational case series.

PARTICIPANTS

Eleven consecutive patients from a community-based retina referral practice who had central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and patchy ischemic retinal whitening (PIRW) and 225 consecutive patients from the same practice with CRVO and no PIRW.

RESULTS

Patchy ischemic retinal whitening occurs in younger patients with nonischemic CRVO (P < 0.0003) and is associated with better visual outcomes than without PIRW (P = 0.0201). Patchy ischemic retinal whitening has a perivenular distribution in the macula, has no fluorescein angiographic correlate in milder cases, can occur before any retinal hemorrhages or macular edema, and resolves in 2 to 4 weeks. Cilioretinal arteriolar insufficiency is a common finding associated with PIRW (5/11 cases). The laboratory evaluation of patients with PIRW is generally normal.

CONCLUSIONS

Patchy ischemic retinal whitening is a useful fundus sign of nonischemic CRVO that can precede other signs. Familiarity with this sign and its correlates will allow accurate diagnosis and counseling of affected patients.

Central retinal vein occlusion in young adults

Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is usually seen in older adults and is often associated with systemic vascular disease. CRVO can be seen in young adults, and although it is occasionally associated with a systemic disease, in the majority of cases it occurs in an otherwise healthy patient with no known systemic disease or ocular problem. Inflammation of the central retinal vein has been proposed as a cause of the occlusion in young adults and for that reason it has been called papillophlebitis. The appearance of unilateral optic disc edema, dilatation, and tortuosity of the major retinal veins with a variable amount of retinal hemorrhage in young, healthy adults with complaints of blurred vision or photopsias has been called, in addition to papillophlebitis, benign retinal vasculitis, optic disc vasculitis, nonischemic CRVO, big blind spot syndrome, and presumed phlebitis of the optic disc. An approach to the diagnostic evaluation of the young adult with CRVO is presented. Although most eyes recover vision to better than 20/40, about one-fifth have significant visual loss, and many suffer ocular sequelae. Many treatment modalities have been tried for this entity, but no conclusive evidence exists that any treatment alters its natural history.

The effect of age and initial visual acuity on the systemic and visual prognosis of central retinal vein occlusion

Papillophlebitis is the term that is often used to describe a central retinal vein occlusion with preserved visual acuity in a young, healthy patient. Among 194 patients with a diagnosis of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), 19 patients were identified who were under 50 years of age and who had visual acuity of 6/12 or better in the affected eye. These patients retained good vision in the affected eye during the course of the disorder with 17 eyes returning to 6/6. All of these patients remained healthy over a mean follow-up period of about four years. This group of patients was compared to a second group of 28 patients who also were under 50 years of age, but who had initial visual acuity in the affected eye less than 6/12. These patients had a variable visual outcome. In addition, they had a higher prevalence of systemic hypertension over the follow-up period than did a group of age-matched control subjects. An additional comparison was made to a group of 26 patients with visual acuity of 6/12 or better in the affected eye but who were over 50 years of age. Forty-six per cent of these patients had final visual acuity less than 6/12, and they had a higher prevalence of systemic vascular disease than did a group of age-matched control subjects.