title: A prospective, randomised, multicenter trial for surgical treatment of central retinal vein occlusion: results of the Radial Optic Neurotomy for Central Vein Occlusion (ROVO) study group.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To compare the surgical outcomes and evaluate the effectiveness of two treatments for central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), radial optic neurotomy (RON) and intravitreal triamcinolone (IVT), in comparison to natural history.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, placebo-controlled, randomised and multi-center study. Patients with CRVO were treated in three groups - with either RON, a single intravitreal injection of 4 mg triamcinolone acetonide, or a placebo treatment. The main outcome measures were change of VA (visual acuity) and proportion of eyes with a significant improvement (defined as > 3 lines logMAR scale) of VA from baseline to month 12.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety patients were included. Due to insufficient data, seven were excluded. Forty-seven percent (n = 18) of patients treated with RON showed an increase in VA, in comparison to 10 % (n = 2) of placebo-treated patients, and 20 % (n = 5) of patients treated with IVT. Significantly more patients showed an improvement in VA following RON than in the placebo group (p = 0.009). Significantly more patients showed an improvement in VA following RON than in the IVT group (p = 0.034). No significant difference was found when directly comparing improvement in VA following IVT and placebo (p = 0.667) treatment.Significantly (p = 0.007) more patients in the placebo group (35 %, n = 7) showed a deterioration (defined as > 3 lines LogMAR scale) in VA than patients in the RON group (8 %, n = 3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that following treatment with RON, patients with CRVO display a significantly better long-term VA than untreated patients and patients treated with a single dose of IVT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Rudolf Foundation Clinic, Juchgasse 25, 1030 Vienna, Austria. tina.aggermann@wienkav.at
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aggermann
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brunner
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Krebs
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haas
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Womastek
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brannath
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Binder
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D013508:Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014821:Vitrectomy
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide