BRVO (Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion)

[jammer521]

I had a Sleep study done around 18 months ago, my Doctor at the time was very bad, I waited over 2 months for results and finally change to a new doctor, he has since requested my sleep study 3 times and has yet to hear back from her, during this time I have been dealing with sleep apnea, and had started to notice vision loss in my right eye, finally my wife scheduled and appointment and made my go see an Opthamologist, I ended up being diagnosed with Brvo, the eye doctor said it was due to sleep apnea and there is no cure, now I have to get injections into my eye once a month, does anyone else have this and if so was it caused by you sleep apnea?

[greatunclebill]

Why do people get retinal vein occlusion (RVO)?
Retinal vein occlusion happens when a blood clot blocks the vein. Sometimes it happens because the veins of the eye are too narrow. It is more likely to occur in people with diabetes, and possibly high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, or other health problems that affect blood flow.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/di...lusion-rvo

Doesn't sound like sleep apnea to me. lots of info at the link.

[jammer521]

That's what I thought but I have zero, zilch of any of those conditions you listed, and I just had a physical and all blood work done a month ago, my eye doctor said sleep apnea was the cause. found this article while browsing here is a snippet :   

 This evaluation of 30 patients selected from a series of 63 with RVO suggests a strong association between RVO and OSA. Limitations of the study include the use of historical controls for comparison and evaluation of OSA in only a subset of patients with RVO at increased risk for OSA. A causal relationship cannot be concluded on the basis of the current study, and further studies are needed to determine the exact prevalence of OSA in the population with RVO. This study suggests that OSA, by acting on retinal microcirculation, could be an additional risk factor for the occurrence of RVO or, at least in older patients with a vascular profile, an associated condition that could play a determinant role in the development of RVO and that could act as a triggering factor.

It is too early to know whether OSA treatment could modify the course of RVO or at least prevent its recurrence or the involvement of the second eye. Nevertheless, in clinical practice, it seems vital for the physician to be aware of this association because OSA treatment has demonstrated its efficacy in reducing the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease in virtually any patient.6.


full article here : https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoph...cle/426585


Also found this " Retinal Vein Occlusion

OSA-related hypoxia (deficiency in oxygen reaching tissues) can be a major cause of RVO, or, retinal vein occlusion (blockage in artery of vein). This means that the retina is not getting enough oxygen. Just as arteries and veins carry blood to and from the heart, if a retinal vein is blocked, it cannot drain blood from the retina. This leads to leaking fluids and bleeding. RVO is the second most common cause of blindness from vascular disease in the retina.

The main symptoms of RVO include vision loss (central or peripheral) and/or blurred vision. Patients with severe OSA are more at risk for developing RVO.

[Halo]

Yes, I have this issue and have since found that medical papers have also been written about it. I stopped using my CPAP machine a year or so ago (due to other problems it became rather useless) and have had several breathless night wake ups over the months - basically like I was about to die etc. - It certainly raises blood pressure to massive levels (obviously a sudden shock to the body) and can be one risk factor for damaging the retinal veins. The other avenue I am exploring is whether cervical spinal stenosis can also do similar damage (as I also have this problem). I'll be asking this question soon when I meet up with the spine expert at hospital. I have seen other scientific papers about a link between artheritis and eye damage.
However, in the absence of day time blood pressure problems and the number of episodes of waking up and gasping for air, the night time shocks are certainly a good candidate for BRVO.
If CPAP always works for you then you're lucky and should keep using it if you can.