Optic Nerve Sheath Decompression for Central Retinal Vein Occlusion

It has been suggested that the visual prognosis in non-ischemic central retinal vein occlusions may be improved following optic nerve sheath decompression. We performed optic nerve sheath decompression on 17 eyes with non-ischemic central retinal vein occlusions. Non-ischemia was graded by fimdus photography and fluorescein angiograms on the basis of nonperfusion and nerve fiber layer infarcts. Snellen visual acuity and Humphrey visual field mean deviation were followed preoperatively and at 2 months following surgery. The results were compared with 17 randomly selected patients with non-ischemic central retinal vein occlusions determined in the same manner. Cases and controls were matched on the basis of visual acuity at the time of surgery and percentage of improvement in visual acuity over time