title: CAPILLARY NONPERFUSION AND PHOTORECEPTOR LOSS IN BRANCH RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION: Spatial Correlation and Morphologic Characteristics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the photoreceptor layer in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion associated with macular ischemia, using a method of en face optical coherence tomography (OCT) representation of the ellipsoid zone.
  
  
  METHODS
  Customized macular OCT scans of 9 patients (10 eyes) with branch retinal vein occlusion and macular ischemia were exported and subsequently postprocessed (removal of vascular and cystic spaces' shadows, segmentation, and alignment to the retinal pigment epithelium). The ellipsoid band was then isolated, aligned, and used to produce an en face OCT image. Areas with photoreceptor loss (hyporeflective ellipsoid) were compared with ischemic areas as identified in an early-phase fluorescein angiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The areas of capillary nonperfusion (as detected in fluorescein angiography) were closely associated with disruption of the ellipsoid zone (depicted as areas of low reflectance in the en face reconstruction of the OCT images). The ellipsoid zone disruption had a patchy appearance and either sharp or fuzzy borders, depending on the grade of the loss of reflectance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  En face OCT reconstruction and subsequent representation of ellipsoid zone revealed a close association between capillary nonperfusion and photoreceptor disruption in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion. It seems that the deep capillary plexus plays an important role on the metabolic demands of outer retina and, consequently, an ischemia at the level of deep capillary plexus has significant impact on the integrity of the photoreceptors.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Ophthalmology, Athens University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Menelaos G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kanakis
authors.forename: Konstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Giannouli
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Andreanos
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papaconstantinou
authors.forename: Chrysanthi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koutsandrea
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ladas
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Georgalas
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Petrou
authors.forename: Athanasios I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Kotsolis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002196:Capillaries; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000473:pathology*; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000503:physiopathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence