RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSIONS BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: Visual Outcomes and Treatment Patterns in a Country with no Mandatory Lockdown

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the incidence, treatment patterns, and visual outcomes in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and central RVO before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a country with no mandatory lockdown.

Methods: This retrospective study included 788 patients presenting with a RVO during the years 2019 to 2022 at St. Erik Eye Hospital. The control group and study groups consisted of patients presenting before and during the pandemic, respectively.

Results: The incidence of diagnosed RVO cases decreased from 281 patients before the pandemic to 236 patients during the first year of the pandemic ( P < 0.05). In patients with branch RVO at the end of follow-up, the best-corrected visual acuity improved 10.3 letters (95% confidence intervals [CI] 7.6-12.9) in the control group compared with 14.3 letters (95% CI 12.6-16.0) in the study groups ( P < 0.05). In patients with central RVO, the best-corrected visual acuity improved 6.3 letters (95% CI 2.7-10.0) in the control group compared with 8.6 letters (95% CI 5.7-11.4) in the study groups (p = NS). Overall, the number of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections increased from 7.0 (95% CI 6.6-7.3) in the control group to 7.6 (95% CI 7.4-7.8) in the study groups ( P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Good visual and anatomical outcomes were sustained, and the number of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections increased significantly in patients with RVO during the COVID-19 pandemic.