[Axial length and branch retinal vein occlusion].

Purpose: To determine whether there is a connection between the axial length and the occurrence of the branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).

Method: 18 patients that had been diagnosed with BRVO have been selected retrospectively. The diagnosis has been made according to the clinical criteria (fundus aspect). A control group of 18 patients has ben constituted. The patients in the control group matched the age distribution and the prevalence of high arterial blood pressure and diabetes mellitus of the patients in the BRVO group. The measurements of the axial lengths have been performed by the same examiner, for the affected and fellow eye, in the BRVO group and for the right eye, in the control group. The data were interpreted by the help of the descriptive statistics. The Student t test has been used and was considered significant, if the p value was < 0.05.

Results: The mean axial length of the eyes with BRVO was 22.42 mm (range, 21.5 mm-24.1 mm) and of the fellow eyes, 22.44 mm (range, 21.3 mm-24.2 mm). The difference is not statistically significant: p = 0.776. The mean axial length of the eyes in the control group was 23.42 mm (range, 21.5 mm-24.4 mm), the difference being statistically significant when compared with the BRVO eyes: p = 0.00064.

Discussions: The possible connections between a shorter axial length and the incidence of BRVO are analyzed, taking into account the known factors that are involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.

Conclusion: The shorter axial length is a risk factor for BRVO.