title: Matched control study of visual outcomes after arteriovenous sheathotomy for branch retinal vein occlusion.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate visual outcomes of arteriovenous sheathotomy for macular edema due to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of 45 eyes from 45 patients who had undergone vitrectomy surgery with arteriovenous sheathotomy for BRVO were studied. Forty-five eyes of 45 patients with a BRVO but without intervention were studied as the control group. The best-corrected visual acuity and central macular thickness were compared between the two groups at baseline and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Improvement of best-corrected visual acuity was 0.42 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) units in the sheathotomy group and 0.22 logMAR units in the control group (P=0.007). The mean postoperative central macular thickness was significantly thinner in the sheathotomy group at 1 month (P=0.01), but not at 3, 6, and 12 months (P=0.75, P=0.81, and P=0.46, respectively). Improvement of best-corrected visual acuity at 12 months was significantly correlated with baseline best-corrected visual acuity, age, duration of symptoms, and sheathotomy (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Arteriovenous sheathotomy for BRVO improves best-corrected visual acuity significantly more than the natural course of the BRVO disease process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamane
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Motohiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamei
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Maiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Mihoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Nagakazu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsumura
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kadonosono
keywords: branch retinal vein occlusion; macular edema; observation; sheathotomy; vitrectomy