Objectives: Central and branch retinal artery occlusions are disabling ischemic strokes of the retina for which established acute treatments are lacking. This is the first published report of the use of intravenous tenecteplase (TNK) for retinal artery occlusion, in which we describe the clinical course of four patients with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) and one patient with branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO).
Materials and methods: Patients were retrospectively recruited to the study from two stroke centers. Clinical course was determined from review of electronic medical records. The primary outcomes of interest were short and long term complications as well as visual acuity at presentation and at any subsequent follow up.
Results: There were no hemorrhagic complications. None of the four patients with CRAO experienced functional visual recovery (defined as improvement to 20/100 or better). The patient with BRAO had functional visual recovery.
Conclusions: Intravenous TNK may be a safe and reasonable treatment for CRAO and BRAO.
Keywords: BRAO; Branch retinal artery occlusion; CRAO; Central retinal artery occlusion; Tenecteplase; Thrombolysis.
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