New vessel growth from ischemic retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a common cause of vitreous hemorrhage, but early detection of new vessels may be challenging and often requires the use of invasive tests. However, a recent study suggests widefield OCT-A may be a helpful and noninvasive approach to detect neovascularization in patients with this condition.

The retrospective, observational case series included 39 eyes diagnosed with ischemic RVO that underwent widefield swept-source OCT-A imaging. The researchers compared the results against standard clinical exams, when available, and ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography (UWF-FA).

On widefield OCT-A, neovascularization elsewhere was seen in 41% of eyes, and the findings were characterized as sea-fan-shaped and nodular-shaped based on their appearance and localization. Neovascularization elsewhere was identified in just four eyes during standard clinical exams, for a detection rate of about 10%. All were sea-fan-shaped.

In one case, a nodular type of neovascularization elsewhere was found on widefield OCT-A but not on UWF-FA. Additionally, neovascularization of the disc was detected in one eye.