Upon completion of a two-year follow-up of eyes treated for retinal vein occlusion (RVO), researchers recently found that visual acuity (VA) at month one was an important predictor of long-term vision and change in vision.

The post-hoc analysis of prospective clinical trial data included 362 participants with macular edema secondary to central retinal or hemi-retinal vein occlusion. A team assessed spectral-domain OCT volume scans at baseline and at months one, six, 12 and 24 for central subfield thickness, subretinal fluid, intraretinal fluid, vitreoretinal interface abnormalities, disorganization of retinal inner layers and ellipsoid zone within the central subfield.

The investigators reported a mean VA of 63.2 letters and central subfield thickness of 299.7μm at month one. In the same timeframe, they observed subretinal fluid in 28.5% of patients, intraretinal fluid in 67.2% and disorganized retinal inner layers in 73.8% (mostly within the central subfield). They noted that the ellipsoid zone was absent in 9.8% and patchy in 31.7%. The team added that VA at month one remained significant across all time points up to month 24.

“Establishing predictors of visual recovery helps identify causes for poor responders to treatment in patients with RVO,” the study authors concluded in their paper.