The impact of structural optical coherence tomography changes on visual function in retinal vein occlusion

PURPOSE: We aimed to determine the correlation between optical coherence tomography (OCT)‐ and demographic features and baseline best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in treatment‐naïve patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO). METHODS: This was a cross‐sectional posthoc analysis of OCT images that included RVO patients from two prospective, open‐label, multicentre studies. The morphological grading was done manually, in the standardized setting of a reading centre. Main outcome measure was the estimated difference in Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters associated with each individual biomarker. RESULTS: Included were 381/301 treatment‐naïve patients with BRVO/CRVO. For BRVO, statistically significant correlations with BCVA were seen for a 100 µm increase in central subfield thickness (CST; −3.1 letters), intraretinal cysts at centre point (CP; +4.1), subretinal fluid (SRF) at CP (+3.0) and hyperreflective foci (HRF) at the central B‐scan (−2.2). In CRVO, a 100 µm increase in CST was associated with a loss of −3.4 letters. In the total cohort, 100 µm increase in CST, SRF at CP and HRF at the central B‐scan correlated with a difference of −3.2,+3.2 and −2.0 letters. A 10‐year increase in age and female gender yielded a −2.0 and −2.5 letter decrease in the total cohort. Adjusted multiple R (2) for the respective group was 18.3%/26.3%/23.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Of all parameters studied, only CST and age were consistently associated with worse BCVA in treatment‐naïve RVO patients. Morphology on OCT explained only a modest part of functional loss in this patient cohort.