Retinal artery occlusion carries risk of death, adverse cardiovascular events | Latest news for Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists

Individuals with retinal artery occlusion (RAO) may be at increased risk of death, stroke, and myocardial infarction (MI) both in the short and long term, according to a study.

For the study, researchers used aggregated electronic health records from TriNetX and looked at 34,874 patients with RAO (mean age at index event 66 years, 51 percent women) who had at least 1 year of follow-up. These patients were matched with individuals in a cataract control group.

In the RAO group, 55 percent of patients had hypertension, 27 percent had diabetes, 49 percent had hyperlipidaemia, and 12 percent had nicotine dependence. The incidence of death after RAO diagnosis was higher than after cataract diagnosis at 2 weeks (0.14 percent vs 0.06 percent; relative risk [RR], 2.45, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.46–4.12; p<0.001), 30 days (0.29 percent vs 0.14 percent; RR, 2.10, 95 percent CI, 1.49–2.97; p<0.001), 1 year (3.51 percent vs 1.99 percent; RR, 1.78, 95 percent CI, 1.61–1.94; p<0.001), 5 years (22.74 percent vs 17.82 percent; RR, 1.28, 95 percent CI, 1.23–1.33; p<0.001), and 10 years (57.86 percent vs 55.38 percent; RR, 1.05, 95 percent CI, 1.02–1.07; p<0.001).

The same was true for stroke with the incidence rates being higher after RAO than after cataract across the following time points: 2 weeks (1.72 percent vs 0.08 percent; RR, 21.43, 95 percent CI, 14.67–31.29; p<0.001), 30 days (2.48 percent vs 0.18 percent; RR, 14.18, 95 percent CI, 10.94–18.48; p<0.001), 1 year (5.89 percent vs 1.13 percent; RR, 5.20, 95 percent CI, 4.67–5.79; p<0.001), 5 years (10.85 percent vs 4.86 percent; RR, 2.24, 95 percent CI, 2.09–2.40; p<0.001), and 10 years (14.59 percent vs 9.18 percent; RR, 1.59, 95 percent CI, 1.48–1.70; p<0.001).

Finally, the incidence of MI after RAO was higher than after cataract at 2 weeks (0.16 percent vs 0.06 percent; RR, 3.00, 95 percent CI, 1.79–5.04; p<0.001), 30 days (0.27 percent vs 0.10 percent; RR, 2.61, 95 percent CI, 1.78–3.83; p<0.001), 1 year (1.66 percent vs 0.97 percent; RR, 1.72, 95 percent CI, 1.51–1.97; p<0.001), 5 years (6.06 percent vs 5.00 percent; RR, 1.21, 95 percent CI, 1.12–1.31; p<0.001), and 10 years (10.55 percent vs 9.43 percent; RR, 1.12, 95 percent CI, 1.04–1.21; p=0.003).

These data highlight a potential need for multidisciplinary evaluation and long-term systemic follow-up for patients receiving a diagnosis of RAO.