Choroidal thickness measurements with optical coherence tomography in branch retinal vein occlusion.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate central macular thickness (CMT) and mean choroidal thickness (MCT) in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), before and after ranibizumab treatment using spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).


METHODS
Forty-two patients with unilateral BRVO and macular edema were included in this study. There were 25 men and 17 women. Using SD-OCT, choroidal thickness was measured at 500 µm intervals up to 1500 µm temporal and nasal to the fovea. MCT was calculated based on the average of the 7 locations. All the eyes with BRVO were treated with intravitreal ranibizumab (0.5 mg/0.05 mL). Comparisons between the BRVO and fellow eyes were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test. Pre-injection and post-injection measurements were analyzed using Wilcoxon test and repeated measure analysis.


RESULTS
At baseline, there was a significant difference between the BRVO and fellow eyes in MCT [BRVO eyes 245 (165-330) µm, fellow eyes 229 (157-327) µm] and CMT [BRVO eyes 463 (266-899) µm, fellow eyes 235 (148-378) µm (P=0.041, 0.0001, respectively)]. Following treatment, CMT [295 (141-558) µm] and MCT [229 (157-329) µm] decreased significantly compared to the baseline measurements (P=0.001, 0.006, respectively). Also BCVA (logMAR) improved significantly (P=0.0001) in the BRVO eyes following treatment. After treatment CMT [BRVO eyes 295 (141-558) µm, fellow eyes 234 (157-351) µm] and MCT [BRVO eyes 229 (157-329) µm, fellow eyes 233 (162-286) µm] values did not reveal any significant difference in BRVO eyes and fellow eyes (P=0.051, 0.824, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
In eyes with BRVO, CMT and MCT values are greater than the fellow eyes, and decrease significantly following ranibizumab injection.
Department of Ophthalmology, Baskent University School of Medicine, Adana 01250, Turkey.
Muge
M
Coban-Karatas
Department of Ophthalmology, Baskent University School of Medicine, Adana 01250, Turkey.
Rana
R
Altan-Yaycioglu
Department of Ophthalmology, Baskent University School of Medicine, Adana 01250, Turkey.
Burak
B
Ulas
Department of Ophthalmology, Cukurova University School of Medicine, Adana 01330, Turkey.
Selcuk
S
Sizmaz
Department of Ophthalmology, Baskent University School of Medicine, Adana 01250, Turkey.
Handan
H
Canan
Division of Biostatistics, Baskent University Adana Clinic and Research Center, Adana 01250, Turkey.
Cagla
C
Sariturk
branch retinal vein occlusion; choroidal thickness; macular edema; optical coherence tomography; ranibizumab