Abstract:

Background: To evaluate the quadrantal effect of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) on retinal microvasculature and ganglion cell-internal plexiform layer thickness (GC-IPL) Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 62 eyes of 31 patients diagnosed with unilateral BRVO. Participants had optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) analyses after complete regression of the macular edema. The macular central subfield thickness (CST), GC-IPL thickness, vessel and perfusion density (VD and PD), and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) were evaluated in both groups. We also compared the affected and opposite unaffected quadrant measurements in BRVO eyes with the corresponding quadrant to BRVO (BRVO-corresponding) in the fellow eye. Results: The mean FAZ area, VD, and PD of SCP demonstrated no significant difference between BRVO and fellow eyes of BRVO (p>0.05 all). The mean GC-IPL thickness, the mean VD of the parafoveal and perifoveal ring, and mean PD of the perifoveal ring were significantly decreased in the affected quadrant of BRVO eyes (p<0.05 all). In the post hoc tests, the VD of the parafoveal and perifoveal ring was significantly lower in the affected quadrant than the unaffected and BRVO-corresponding quadrant (p<0.05 all). A post hoc analysis revealed that the PD was significantly lower in the affected quadrant than the unaffected and BRVO-corresponding quadrant (p=0.017, p=0.025). Conclusions: The microvascular changes in the macular superficial capillary plexus accompany significant ganglion cell loss in BRVO. The microvascular and microstructural alterations were mainly localized to the distribution area of the occluded vein. Key Words: Retinal blood vessels, Retinal vein occlusion, Macular edema

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