Visual outcome in central retinal and branch retinal artery occlusion.

PURPOSE: To study retrospectively the presenting visual acuity and the visual outcome in patients with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) and in patients with branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO).

METHODS

We studied the visual acuity and outcome in 23 patients (23 eyes) with CRAO and in 30 patients (30 eyes) with BRAO that met the inclusion criteria: a funduscopic appearance of retinal whitening, a delay in arterial dye filling in a fluorescein angiogram, the first examination in our hospital within 7 days of onset, and a minimum follow-up period of 90 days.

RESULTS

Both presenting acuity and final acuity were far worse in patients with CRAO than in patients with BRAO. A final acuity worse than 0.1 was observed in 14 of the 23 (61%) patients with CRAO and in only 1 of the 30 (3%) patients with BRAO. Only 5 of the 23 (22%) patients with CRAO and 24 of the 30 (80%) patients with BRAO showed a final acuity of 0.5 or better.

CONCLUSION

Visual acuity in patients with CRAO is poor at presentation, and the prognosis is generally poor, with a few exceptions. In contrast, the visual acuity in patients with BRAO is far better both at presentation and at the final visit.