Monday, August 17, 2020

Retinal Vein Occlusion may be associated with increased risk of dementia

A study out of South Korea suggests that retinal vein occlusion (RVO) may be associated with increased risk of dementia. The coexistence of RVO with hypertension was found to be associated with a higher risk of dementia. In addition, RVO may be a predictor for dementia.

Retinal vascular change is associated with changes in the brains of patients with dementia; however, there is limited evidence regarding the relationship between retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and risk of dementia. A group in South Korea investigated the association between RVO and subsequent risk of dementia using a cohort comprising the entire Korean population.

This retrospective cohort study was based on the data of participants ≥40 years who underwent health examinations between 2009 and 2010 provided by South Korean National Health Insurance Service. The RVO group (n = 46,259) comprised patients who were initially diagnosed between 2006 and 2010; the comparison group (three per RVO patient; n = 138,777) was selected using propensity score matching according to age, sex, and systolic blood pressure. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression models were performed.

During mean follow-up of 6.6 years, 14,727 cases of dementia developed. From the Kaplan-Meier curves, incidence probabilities for all types of dementia were significantly increased in the RVO group, relative to the comparison group (all log-rank P <0.001). After adjusting for all confounding variables, the RVO group exhibited increased risks of subsequent all-cause dementia (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.12-1.21), Alzheimer’s disease (1.15, 1.11-1.20), and vascular dementia (1.24, 1.12-1.37) relative to the comparison group. The presence of RVO was significantly associated with increased risks of all three types of dementia both in hypertensive and non-hypertensive individuals.

In conclusion, the authors note that in this large-scaled population-based cohort study, RVO was significantly associated with increased risks of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia.


Since you’re here...we have a small favor to ask. Retina Global is a nonprofit, and we have to depend on your support to sustain the work we do. Hence the need to ask for your help. Retina Global's work is important, since it not only provides help to disadvantaged people, but also provides resources for developing new treatments that can potentially cure blindness. What we do takes a lot of time, money and hard work. But we do it because we believe we have to help stop someone somewhere from going blind. So make a difference. Click here to donate. Your support is much appreciated. Thank you!

Source: AJO


More about Retina Global here. We seek your support. Click here to donate.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comments. We will get back to you shortly if there is a need to respond to it.

- Admin, Retina Global
Read more on Retina Global.