Ischaemic central retinal vein occlusion in the young.

Little is known about the behaviour of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in the young. We studied the course and visual outcome in 25 patients with CRVO aged less than 40 years with special reference to the association with underlying systemic disorders. Eight patients had ischaemic CRVO while 17 had non-ischaemic CRVO. Systemic disorders associated with ischaemic CRVO included end-stage renal disease in 3, and hypercholesterolaemia, beta-thalassaemia and hypertension in 1 each. All patients with ischaemic CRVO had unusually severe disease and a rapid downhill course. Management included panretinal photocoagulation in 7 eyes, trabeculectomy with 5-fluorouracil in 3 eyes and cyclocryopexy in 2 eyes. Despite this 3 eyes became phthisical and the final visual acuity in all eyes ranged from no light perception to 6/60. Three patients with end-stage renal disease died within 15 months of diagnosis of venous occlusion.