What Researchers Did
Researchers retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) for retinal artery occlusion (RAO) in 22 patients at an Australian hospital between 2015 and 2021.
What They Found
For central RAO, 8 out of 17 patients (47%) experienced objective improvement in best corrected visual acuity, with an average LogMAR improvement of -0.2. An additional 4 patients reported subjective improvement, bringing the total to 12 out of 17 (71%) experiencing some form of improvement. However, none of the five patients with branch RAO showed improvement in best corrected visual acuity.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Canadian patients experiencing central retinal artery occlusion may find hyperbaric oxygen treatment to be a safe option that could potentially improve visual acuity or subjective visual perception. However, this treatment did not show benefit for branch retinal artery occlusion, and its availability and specific protocols may vary across Canadian healthcare settings.
Canadian Relevance
This study was conducted at a major Australian hospital and does not have a direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
This was a retrospective study with a small sample size of 22 patients, which limits the generalizability of the findings.