Central Vein Occlusion Study (CVOS)

Central vein occlusion is a common retinal vascular disorder with potentially blinding complications. The two major complications are reduced central vision caused by macular edema and neovascular glaucoma caused by iris neovascularization. Other clinical trials have shown that laser photocoagulation is an effective treatment for complications found in diabetic retinopathy and branch vein occlusion, which have some features in common with CVO: neovascularization and reduced visual acuity caused by macular edema occur in all three disorders. Evidence from small-scale studies suggests that a grid pattern of photocoagulation reduces macular edema in CVO patients, although the associated changes in visual acuity are variable. The CVOS is a detailed investigation of grid pattern photocoagulation in a larger randomized group of patients.

Eligible patients were divided into four groups:

Group N: Eyes with extensive retinal ischemia (at least 10 disc areas of nonperfusion) were randomly assigned to receive panretinal photocoagulation or nontreatment unless iris neovascularization developed.

Group M: Eyes with visual loss ascribable to macular edema were randomly assigned to receive grid-pattern photocoagulation or nontreatment.

Group P: Eyes with relatively perfused retinas were followed to provide information about the natural history of the disease.