High Variation in Inner Retinal Reflectivity Predicts Poor Visual Outcome in Patients With Central Retinal Vein Occlusion: SCORE2 Report 21.

PubMed ID: 37367722

Author(s): Mehta N, Patil S, Modi V, Vardi R, Liu K, Singh RP, Sarraf D, Oden NL, VanVeldhuisen PC, Scott IU, Ip MS, Blodi BA, Modi Y. High Variation in Inner Retinal Reflectivity Predicts Poor Visual Outcome in Patients With Central Retinal Vein Occlusion: SCORE2 Report 21. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2023 Jun 1;12(6):21. doi: 10.1167/tvst.12.6.21. PMID 37367722

Journal: Translational Vision Science & Technology, Volume 12, Issue 6, Jun 2023

PURPOSE To assess the association of a novel spectral domain optical coherence tomography biomarker with 6-month visual acuity in in the Study of COmparative Treatments for REtinal Vein Occlusion 2.

METHODS Spectral domain optical coherence tomography volume scans were evaluated for inner retinal hyperreflectivity, quantified by optical intensity ratio (OIR) and OIR variation. Baseline visual acuity letter score (VALS), baseline OCT biomarkers, and month 1 OIR were correlated with VALS at month 6. Regression trees, a machine learning technique yielding readily interpretable models, were used to assess for variable interaction.

RESULTS Only baseline VALS correlated positively with month 6 VALS in multivariate regression. Regression trees detected a novel functional and anatomical interaction in a subgroup. Among patients with a baseline VALS worse than 43, those with an OIR variation at month 1 of more than 0.09 had a mean of 13 fewer letters of vision at 6 months compared with patients with an OIR variation of 0.09 or less.

CONCLUSIONS Baseline VALS was the strongest predictor of month 6 VALS. Regression tree analysis detected an interaction effect, in which higher OIR variation at month 1 predicted worse 6-month VALS in patients with low VALS at baseline. OIR variation may serve as a predictor for poor visual outcome despite treatment of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion in patients with poor vision at baseline.

TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE Pixel heterogeneity in three-dimensional OCT data may serve as measure of disruption of the retinal laminations, and this factor may carry visually prognostic value.