Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate retinal microvasculature changes in patients treated with anti-VEGF for macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion. METHODS: We examined 38 eyes of 19 patients for the study. We measured superficial and deep capillary plexus vessel densities (%), foveal avascular zone areas (mm2), and central macular thicknesses. RESULTS: Parafoveal superficial and deep capillary plexus values were significantly lower in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion than in fellow eyes (p<0.001). We found a significant increase in parafoveal deep capillary plexus values after the anti-VEGF treatment (p=0.032). The mean foveal avascular zone was larger in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion than in control eyes (p<0.001). The mean central macular thickness was significantly higher in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion than in controls, and we observed a significant decrease in central macular thickness after anti-VEGF treatment (<0.001). In addition, the cystic structures in the deep capillary plexus regressed. CONCLUSION: Optical coherence tomography angiography enables qualitative and quantitative evaluations during follow-up of patients treated for branch retinal vein occlusion.