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Updated: Jan 7, 2026
Using Retinal Imaging to Study Dementia
Published on: November 6, 2017
Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementia after Retinal Vascular Occlusion: A Nationwide Cohort Analysis
Hou-Ren Tsai1, Yu-Jie Lin2, Ching-Hui Loh3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan; School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
Purpose:
To evaluate the risk of developing Alzheimer disease (AD) and related dementia in patients with newly diagnosed retinal vascular occlusion.
Design:
A nationwide population-based cohort study using claims data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).
Participants And Controls:
A total of 39 540 individuals with diagnoses of retinal vascular occlusion between 2011 and 2019 in Taiwan and 395 400 age- and sex-matched nonretinal vascular occlusion individuals without prior diagnoses of any dementia.
Methods:
Patients with newly diagnosed retinal vascular occlusion were identified in the NHIRD, and baseline characteristics were collected. The study endpoints, including AD, vascular dementia (VD), and all-cause dementia, were determined by ≥2 separate outpatient diagnoses or a single discharge diagnosis. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was applied to balance baseline covariates and control potential confounders. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for each outcome.
Main Outcome Measures:
Development of AD, VD, and all-cause dementia.
Results:
After IPTW, 38 522 patients with retinal vascular occlusion and 395 740 nonretinal vascular occlusion individuals were included. Patients with retinal vascular occlusion had increased risks of AD (HR, 1.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39-1.80), VD (HR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.58-1.95), and all-cause dementia (HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.50-1.65). Both retinal artery occlusion and retinal vein occlusion were associated with increased risks of AD (HR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.14-2.23; and HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.39-1.80, respectively), VD (HR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.32-2.43; and HR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.59-1.98, respectively), and all-cause dementia (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.42-1.86; and HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.52-1.67, respectively).
Conclusions:
Patients with retinal vascular occlusion had moderately increased risks of AD and related dementias. Therefore, monitoring for dementia symptoms in patients with retinal vascular occlusion may facilitate earlier detection and intervention.
Financial Disclosure(S):
The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
