Abstract
Purpose:
To determine whether elevated plasma homocysteine and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, two established risk factors of vascular diseases, are associated with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).
Methods:
Retrospective case-control study. Thirty-two patients with PCV and 73 control subjects without age-related macular degeneration or retinal vascular diseases were enrolled from September 2008 to October 2010. Plasma homocysteine and serum CRP levels were identified. Associations among plasma homocysteine, serum CRP levels and PCV were further evaluated using logistic regression analysis.
Results:
The median plasma homocysteine level was significantly higher in patients with PCV than in the controls (16.22 μmol/L vs 10.75 μmol/L, p<0.001). The median serum CRP level was slightly higher in the PCV group (0.15 mg/dl vs 0.13 mg/dl in control group, p=0.49). After stratified by genders, significantly elevated plasma hymocysteine levels were still noted in males with PCV, but not in females. Under logistic regression analysis, each 1μmol/L increase of plasma homocysteine in males was associated with 2 times more likely to have PCV (OR, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.24-5.22, p=0.01).
Conclusions:
Hyperhomocysteinemia was a risk factor of PCV in males and might contribute to the pathogenesis of PCV.
Keywords: 412 age-related macular degeneration •
453 choroid: neovascularization •
467 clinical laboratory testing