Background: Little is known about retinal vascular lesions underlying hemorrhage in the acute phase of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).
Case: A 64-year-old woman presented with a decrease in visual acuity of ten-day duration in her left eye.
Observations: At the initial examination, her left fundus showed the typical appearance of BRVO, including retinal bleeding and soft exudates in the lower half of the fundus, after the arteriovenous crossing. Fluorescein angiography showed no detail in the retinal vessels, which were occluded by retinal bleeding. However, in the early phase of indocyanine green (ICG) angiography, ICG dye leaked from the retinal artery at a point proximal to the first bifurcation. In the late phase of ICG angiography, the dye pooled along the retinal artery in a fusiform fashion. One year after laser photocoagulation was performed in the area of the BRVO, ICG dye leakage from the retinal artery had completely disappeared.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that the changes in the retina detected by ICG angiography may have been associated with the onset of BRVO. In patients with acute BRVO, ICG angiography may be used to evaluate retinal arterial lesions covered by hemorrhage and provide useful information.