Ocular neovascularization with retinal vascular occlusion-III. Incidence of ocular neovascularization with retinal vein occlusion.

A prospective natural history study was conducted in 721 eyes with various types of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) to determine the incidence of various types of ocular neovascularization (NV) and the factors that influence the development of ocular NV. The material was 360 eyes with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), 97 eyes with hemi-CRVO, and 264 eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO); these cases were further subdivided into six groups for logical data analysis: nonischemic CRVO (venous stasis retinopathy-VSR, 282 eyes), ischemic CRVO (hemorrhagic retinopathy-HR, 78 eyes), hemi-VSR (66 eyes), hemi-HR (31 eyes), major BRVO (191 eyes) and macular BRVO (73 eyes). Ocular NV attributable to RVO was seen only in HR, hemi-HR, and major BRVO. In HR the anterior segment was the major site of NV, with iris and angle NV and neovascular glaucoma (NVG), while in hemi-HR and major BRVO the retina and optic disc were the major sites of NV. The principal factor influencing the development of ocular NV in RVO seems to be the severity and extent of retinal ischemia, while duration of follow-up since onset also plays an important role in determining the incidence of ocular NV. The findings and subject of ocular NV in RVO are discussed in detail along with a review of the pertinent literature.