Purpose: To compare the lamina cribrosa (LC) thickness of healthy subjects and patients with unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), and to determine possible correlations between the LC thickness and the BRVO subtypes.
Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study included a total of 46 patients with naive, untreated, unilateral BRVO and 31 healthy control subjects. The occlusion site was divided into two BRVO types: arteriovenous crossing BRVO (AV-BRVO) and optic nerve BRVO (ON-BRVO). The optic nerve head was scanned using enhanced-depth imaging with the Spectralis optical coherence tomography system.
Results: The mean LC thickness of both eyes in patients with BRVO was thinner than that of eyes (274.0 μm) of the healthy subjects (both, P < 0.001). Although the LC thickness of the BRVO-affected eyes was slightly thinner than that of the fellow eyes (237.0 μm vs. 241.4 μm, respectively), there was no statistically significant difference. In addition, there were no significant differences in the LC thicknesses of both eyes according to the site of occlusion.
Conclusion: A thinner LC was observed in both eyes of unilateral BRVO patients compared with those of healthy subjects. This finding suggests that thin LC may contribute to the pathogenesis of BRVO as a local mechanical factor in addition to systemic factors.