Abstract
Purpose::
To assess the relation between branch retinal vein occlusion, a condition related to thickening of the arteriolar wall, as a prognostic marker of mortality.
Design::
Long term follow up study.
Participants::
Patients diagnosed with branch retinal vein occlusion.
Methods::
Diagnosis of branch retinal vein occlusion, confirmed by review of color diapositives and fluorescein angiograms. Main outcome: Observed and expected numbers of deaths in patients and background population a recorded in comprehensive national civic records.
Results::
The study included 329 patients (173 women,156 men) born between 1902 and 1956 and aged 39-91 years when were diagnosed with branch retinal vein occlusion, examined between 1973 and 1998. Follow-up was concluded on July 8, 2004 when 144 deaths were recorded in patients (74 women, 70 men). The expected number of deaths, based upon the mortality of the background population was 145.5. Thus, the standardized mortality rate was 0.99 (CI95 0.84-1.16). Stratified analyses revealed no significant effect of age, sex, or time of diagnosis.
Conclusions::
In this study of 329 patientswith branch retinal vein occlusion, we found no significant difference in mortality between the patients with branch retinal vein occlusion and the background population. Because an association between branch retinal vein occlusion and markers of elevated cardiovascular/cerebrovascular risk has been documented previously, our finding suggest the presence of effects of systemic intervention or selective survival of the more fit patients with precursor conditions of branch retinal vein occlusion, such as arteriovenous nicking.
Keywords: retina • aging • blood supply