Therapeutic effect of laser photocoagulation on branch retinal vein occlusion

Objective To study the effect of laser photocoagulation on branch retinal vein occlusion(BRVO).Methods Changes of visual acuity,ocular fundus and its fluorescein angiography(FFA) in 35 patients(35 eyes) diagnosed as BRVO were observed before and after laser photocoagulation.Results The visual acuity was improved in 13 eyes(37%),unchanged in 16 eyes(46%) and decreased in 6 eyes(17%) after laser photocoagulation.The prognosis of visual acuity was poorer in patients with their initial visual acuity ≤0.2 than in those with their initial visual acuity 0.2.Retinal hemorrhage and edema as well as angiopoiesis were disappeared in 31(88.6%) out of the 35 eyes after 1-3 times of laser photocoagulation.FFA showed that the leakage at macular area was disappeared with no complications,such as vitreous hemorrhage,secondary neovascular glucoma and proliferative vitreoretinopathy.Conclusion Laser photocoagulation can accelerate the absorption of retinal hemorrhage and eliminate macular edema,thus contributing to the recovery of visual function.Initial visual acuity is closely related with the prognosis of BRVO.