Abstract
Purpose :
Acute retinal artery occlusions (RAO) may be a harbinger for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, and in 2019, the AAO updated the preferred practice for RAOs to include emergent referral for stroke work up. The purpose of this study is to examine the trends in hospital admission and complications of acute RAO in patients aged 65 years and older since the updated management protocol.
Methods :
Utilizing ICD-10 codes for patients aged 65 years and older from the National Inpatient Sample Database, data from 2016 to 2020 were analyzed. Cases were extracted using SPSS, then analyzed using the Joinpoint Regression Program. Trends over time were calculated for the incidence of acute RAO hospitalizations, and the incidence of stroke and MI during the hospital stay using average annual percent change (AAPC).
Results :
For the age 65+ cohort, 8,420 admissions with a primary diagnosis of an acute RAO were identified from 2016 to 2020. The median (IQR) length of stay was 2 (1-3) days. 115 out of the 8,420 (1.4%) RAO cases experienced an MI, and 395 (4.7%) experienced a stroke. There was no significant AAPC in RAO admissions from 2016 to 2020 (p=0.197). AAPC in stroke (p=0.835) and MI (p=0.533) patients as a percentage of RAO admissions also showed no significant change over time. From 2016 to 2020, the most RAO admissions were in 2019 with 3320 admissions.
Conclusions :
Hospitalized acute RAO cases between 2016 and 2020, experienced complications of MI in 1.4% of cases and non-hemorrhagic stroke in 4.7% of cases. No significant change was noted in annual RAO admissions or the incidence of stroke or MI complications during the study period. Future studies on the 2020-2023 NIS dataset will shed light if the updated AAO recommendations have impacted the rate of acute RAO hospital admissions.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.