Anterior location of the crossing artery in branch retinal vein obstruction
J. S. Duker and G. C. Brown
Retina Vascular Service, Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pa.
We evaluated retrospectively the cases of 25 patients (26 eyes) with a
recent, temporal, branch retinal vein obstruction to determine the relative
anatomic position of the obstructed vein in relation to its crossing
artery. In 26 (100%) of 26 eyes, the artery lay anterior to the vein,
toward the vitreous cavity. A control group was obtained by evaluating the
relative anatomic position between the branch retinal artery and vein at an
equivalent crossing site along the opposite vascular arcade within the same
eye. In the control crossing sites, the artery lay anterior to the vein 65%
(15/23) of the time. We conclude that the likelihood that the artery will
lie anterior to the obstructed vein at the site of blockage in a branch
retinal vein obstruction is substantially greater than what would be
expected by chance alone. This anatomic relationship between artery and
vein probably plays a role in the cause of a branch retinal vein
obstruction and may have therapeutic significance in light of a recent
report concerning surgical treatment of such obstructions.
