Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO)

What is RVO?

Your retina is a thin layer of tissue that lines the back of your eyeball. It turns light into signals to the brain, which interprets them as sight. Retinal vein occlusion. can give you blurry vision or even sudden permanent blindness in that eye. It's similar to retinal artery occlusion, which is sometimes called an eye stroke.

Retinal vein occlusion is a blockage of the small veins that carry blood away from the retina. The damage happens when a blocked vein keeps blood from draining from the retina. That raises pressure inside your eye, which can cause bleeding, swelling, and fluid leaks. Retinal vein occlusions can harm your eye in minutes.

Risk Factors

Usually, a blood clot blocks the vein. Sometimes, a nearby artery can be a problem. In the retina, arteries and veins cross over each other. When an artery hardens, it can press against a vein and narrow the opening. This causes choppy blood flow, which may lead to clotting. So if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, and other conditions that affect the blood vessels, you’re more likely to have retinal vein occlusion.

Other things also can raise your odds for the condition:

  • Smoking

  • Being overweight

  • Older age

  • Hardened arteries, called atherosclerosis

  • Glaucoma

  • Lymphoma

  • Leukemia

  • Multiple myeloma

  • Trauma to the eye

Symptoms

You may not always know that you’re going to have retinal vein occlusion. Almost always, it happens in only one eye. Some people, specially those with blockage in smaller blood vessels, have no symptoms.

Cure

There's no cure for retinal vein occlusion. Your doctor can't unblock the retinal veins. What they can do is treat any complications and protect your vision

At University Retina, we have a full-time team dedicated to our clinical trials program and are able to offer our patients the latest drugs and medical devices for treating retinal and macular diseases. If you are interested in learning more or participating in a clinical trial for retinal vein occlusion, please email us using the contact button below.


Director of Clinical Research
Veeral Sheth, MD, FACS

 
 

Current Clinical Trials

There are no current studies for RVO. To see what University Retina can do for you please reach out via the contact form above.

Completed Studies

Topaz Study A Suprachoroidal Injection of Triamcinolone Acetonide with IVT Anti-VEGF in subjects With Macular Edema Following RVO.

A Multi-Center, Randomized, Masked, Controlled Phase 3 Trial to study the safety and efficacy of suprachoroidal CLS-TA with intravitreal anti-VEGF agent in subjects with macular edema following retinal vein occlusion.

Sponsor: Clearside Biomedical, Inc.

Read about the study on clinicaltrials.gov, here.

Norse-3 Study A 3-month Study to Assess the Safety of ONS-5010 in Subjects With Visual Impairment Due to Retinal Disorders

A 3-month study to assess the safety of ophthalmic bevacizumab (ONS-5010) in subjects with visual impairment diagnosed with a retinal condition that would benefit from treatment with intravitreal injection of bevacizumab due to retinal disorders: exudative age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, or branch retinal vein occlusion.

Sponsor: Outlook Therapeutics, Inc.

Read about the study on clinicaltrials.gov, here.