Serum vitamin D level alterations in retinal vascular occlusions

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Endocrinology
• Vascular Medicine

Background:

• Retinal vascular occlusions (RVOs) encompass a range of conditions affecting retinal blood vessels.
• Vitamin D deficiency is increasingly linked to various vascular and inflammatory diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate serum vitamin D levels in patients with different subtypes of retinal vascular occlusions.
• To compare vitamin D levels between ischemic and non-ischemic presentations of these occlusions.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 50 patients with retinal vascular occlusions (CRVO, BRVO, CRAO, BRAO) and 50 healthy controls.
• Serum vitamin D levels were measured and compared between the study and control groups.
• The study group was further stratified into ischemic and non-ischemic subtypes for comparative analysis.

Main Results:

• Patients with retinal vascular occlusions had significantly lower mean serum vitamin D levels (18.39 ng/dl) compared to controls (32.31 ng/dl).
• Ischemic retinal vascular occlusions demonstrated significantly lower vitamin D levels than non-ischemic types (p=0.010).
• While overall ischemic RVOs had lower vitamin D, this difference was not statistically significant within individual subtypes.

Conclusions:

• A high prevalence of low serum vitamin D is observed in patients across the spectrum of retinal vascular occlusion diseases.
• Ischemic retinal vascular occlusions are associated with lower serum vitamin D levels compared to non-ischemic forms.
• Vitamin D supplementation could be a potential therapeutic strategy for managing the severity of retinal vascular occlusions.