Lifespan reduction due to neoplasia is nullified by pseudoexfoliation syndrome

Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PES) is a common eye condition, indicating a risk of various eye diseases. Whether or not PES has extra-ocular physiological or even pathophysiological implications has been a matter of controversy for years.

In total 1888 persons were examined for PES in 1985-86. Of these, 1864 (98·7%) had died and were therefore available for analysis by 01.01.2016. Age and cause(s) of death were recorded. 9 diagnostic groups (cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, neoplasms, systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Parkinson's disease, aortic aneurysm (AA), and amyloidosis) based on ICD-coding were analyzed for both a possible association between PES and lifespan, as well as PES and specific systemic diseases.

In the cardiovascular group, PES was not associated with an alteration in longevity. The subgroups acute myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases revealed significantly reduced and increased lifespan, respectively, compared to the rest of the population. These deviations were independent of PES. The impact of PES on the neoplasm group showed that PES-positive persons lived 1·81 years (p < 0·001) longer than PES-negative persons. No significant differences in the PES prevalence were found in any of the cause of death diagnostic groups.

The present study suggests that lifespan reduction due to neoplasia is nullified by PES, and that this phenomenon is not restricted to one specific neoplasm type. Thus, the paradoxical conclusion emerges that PES provides a lifespan benefit to the patient with a neoplasm. For the remaining diagnostic groups, PES was neither associated with an altered lifespan, nor with any cause of death diagnoses.