Risk Factors and Systemic Outcomes in Patients with Retinal Artery Occlusion.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Cardiology
• Neurology

Background:

• Acute retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is a critical condition requiring evaluation for systemic vascular events.
• Understanding the association between RAO and subsequent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the association of strokes, myocardial infarctions (MI), and systemic outcomes after acute retinal artery occlusion (RAO).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective case series of 596 adult patients diagnosed with acute RAO from 2007 to 2020.
• Analysis included recording subsequent stroke, MI, and death events.
• Univariate analysis with Holm-Bonferroni and Benjamini-Hochberg corrections was used to assess risk factors.

Main Results:

• The rate of stroke or MI within one week of RAO diagnosis was 1.34%, and within one month was 2.01%.
• 13.3% of patients were eventually diagnosed with a stroke or MI at a mean of 19 months.
• Emergency room evaluation led to more imaging and interventions but did not significantly alter the incidence of subsequent stroke, MI, or death compared to outpatient evaluation.

Conclusions:

• The rate of stroke or MI within one year after acute RAO is low (0.08 events per person-years).
• Events are rare around the time of RAO diagnosis.
• Emergency room versus outpatient evaluation strategies did not impact the incidence proportion of major adverse events.