A Comparative Study between Occlusive and Non-occlusive Retinal Vasculitis: Data from a Referral Center in Tunisia, North Africa

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To compare clinical profile and visual outcomes of occlusive versus non-occlusive retinal vasculitis (RV).

Methods

A retrospective comparative study

Results

284 patients were enrolled, including 124 patients with occlusive RV (ORV) and 160 patients with non-occlusive RV (NORV). Patients with ORV were older (p ≤ 10–3), predominantly male (p ≤10-3), with less bilateral involvement (31.5% vs 53,4%; p ≤ 10⁻³). Infectious RV was more frequently diagnosed in the ORV group than in the NORV group (48.8% vs 32.9%, p = .006). Behçet disease and ocular tuberculosis were the leading causes of ORV. Idiopathic RV, Behçet disease, and sarcoidosis were the most common causes of NORV. Independent predictive factors of poor visual outcome were worse baseline visual acuity in both groups (p = .006 and p ≤ 10–3, respectively), and retinal hemorrhages (p = .048) and optic atrophy (p = .040) in the ORV group.

Conclusion

Occlusive and non-occlusive RV have distinctive clinical and etiological profile.

KEYWORDS:

• Retinal vasculitis
• occlusive
• uveitis
• fluorescein angiography
• corticosteroids
• immunosuppressive therapy

Acknowledgment

This work has been supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research of Tunisia.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.