Retinal Venous Occlusive Diseases and Study of their Risk Factors

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a major causeof vision loss. Of the two main types of RVO, Branch RetinalVein Occlusion (BRVO) is 4 to 6 times more prevalent thanCentral Retinal Vein Occlusion (CRVO), and is the mostcommon type of RVO. Risk factors evaluated in this studyinclude Age, Sex, Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, PrimaryOpen Angle Glaucoma (POAG), Tobacco consumption inany form, Dyslipidemia, Hyperhomocysteinemia and Irondeficiency Anaemia (IDA). Current research aimed to studythe risk factors associated with Retinal Venous Occlusivediseases and to study correlation of occurrence of lesions withthese risk factors.Material and methods: This was a hospital based crosssectional study involving 60 cases diagnosed with RetinalVenous Occlusions who were further evaluated for the abovementioned risk factors. Results were evaluated by Unpaired ttest, Fisher test, student ‘t’ test and Chi-Square test. ‘p’ valueless than 0.05 was taken as significant.Results: BRVO (n=49), CRVO (n=11). Most common comorbidity was hypertension, which was found to be significant(p<0.05). Diabetes, dyslipidemia, tobacco in any form,iron deficiency anaemia were not found to be significant.Hyperhomocystemia was found to be significant (p<0.05)under 40 years of age and insignificant risk factor above 40years. Presence of POAG with a duration of more than 5yearswas significant factor in CRVO but not in BRVO.Conclusion: Age and hypertension are significant risk factorsfor RVO. Hyperhomocysteinemia is a significant risk factorfor RVO in patients below 40 years on age. POAG is a riskfactor for development of CRVO. Presence of multiple riskfactors increases the chances of development of RVO.