Posterior Segment
Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion
Also known as: BRVO, branch retinal vein occlusion, sectoral retinal haemorrhage, branch vein occlusion, sectoral venous occlusion
Filed as: Urgent
Source-cited from the record's own evidence list. Clinical content programme led by Dr Ankit Mathur, PhD, Grad Cert Ocu Thera, B.S. Optom. How the clinical content is governed
Clinical decision support only
Overview
Obstruction of a retinal vein branch, characteristically where an artery crosses it, giving sectoral haemorrhages and a dilated tortuous vein in one venous territory. Vision may be near normal where the macula is spared, or reduced where oedema involves it. Urgent retinal review assesses macular involvement and neovascular risk, and the systemic vascular context, blood pressure above all, warrants medical follow-up in its own right.
Recognition
Symptoms: what patients report
- Sudden or subacute sectoral blur or field loss in one eye.
- Usually painless.
- Symptoms may be milder than central retinal vein occlusion if the macula is initially spared.
Signs: what the examination shows
- Sectoral retinal haemorrhages in one venous distribution.
- Dilated or tortuous branch vein in the affected area.
- Field loss may match the retinal sector involved.
What OptoGuide™ covers for branch retinal vein occlusion
- Pattern reasoning: what this combination of findings points to, and its differentiators
- Don't-miss risks and escalation triggers
- Management tiers with linked Australian therapeutics
- Referral urgency, specialty, and letter drafting
Sources
Standard texts: Kanski's Clinical Ophthalmology: A Systematic Approach, The Wills Eye Manual, Oxford Handbook of Ophthalmology, Oxford American Handbook of Ophthalmology, Signs in Ophthalmology: Causes & Differential Diagnosis.