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. (C) Japanese Ophthalmological Society 2004.