The purpose of this study was to determine the diurnal blood pressure variation with retinal vein occlusion (RVO) using 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24-hour ABPM).

The subjects in this study visited the department of ophthalmology from May 2012 to December 2012 and were diagnosed with RVO but had no history of hypertension (HTN). Non-dipper was defined as a nocturnal systolic blood pressure (SBP) decrease less than 10%. These values were used to compare the 24-hour ABPM values of the RVO and the control groups.

The 24-hour ABPM values, with the exception of the mean nightly SBP, were statistically different whne the RVO group was compared with the control group. The odds of an RVO patient being a non-dipper compared to dipper were 1.81 times greater than in the control. Additionally, the clinical SBP and DBP in the RVO group were not significantly different when the HTN group and the non-HTN group were compared. In contrast, the mean 24-hour SBP and the mean DBP were significantly different in regard to HTN.

Patients with RVO have a tendency to maintain high BP throughout the day and also during the night. A patient with non-dipper status can be at risk for RVO, even if the patient does not have HTN. Therefore, 24-hour ABPM is an effective management approach for HTN in addition to strict BP control in patients with RVO.