Arteries bring blood from the heart into the eye, and veins are the vessels that bring/drain blood from the eye and bring it back to the heart. A retinal vein can become blocked. When this happens, blood and fluid can leak into the macula. This can destroy the small cells of the retina.
Retinal vein occlusion can be treated in different ways, depending on the severity, location and the progression of the disease.
One of the treatments is with laser surgery. In this procedure a laser beam is used to treat the retina directly. This helps to stimulate the deep cells in the retina to pump out fluid and help dry it out.
The most recent research has shown that eye injections with molecules that dampens the signal that makes blood vessels leaky is of great benefit for diabetic macular edema. These medications work by making vessels less leaky and by stopping the creation of abnormal blood vessels in the back of the eye.