Materials and Methods: It was examined whether there were any differences in terms of axial length and refraction in the involved eyes of 30 patients with unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion (Group 1), uninvolved eyes of the same (Group 2), and 34 eyes of the 17 normal individuals (Group 3, control group).

Result: Mean axial lenght was found 22.19±0.98 mm (20.44-23.96 mm) in group 1 whereas it was 22.20±0.97 mm (20.30-24.02 mm) in group 2, and 22 75±0.66 mm(21.46- 23.99 mm) in group 3. There was no statistically significant difference between group 1 and group 2 in terms of axial length (p>0.05) however the difference between group 1 and group 3 was statistically significant (p<0.05). Hyperopia was found in 8 patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (26.7%) while, it was found only in 2 patients (5.9%) in the control group. No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups.

Conclusion: Axial length is significantly shorter in cases with venous branch occlusion. This condition can be considered as an additional local risk factor for venous branch occlusion. Keywords : Branch retinal vein occlusion, axial length, refractive changes