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[Anticardiolipin antibodies in vascular occlusions of the eye]
Insights
Elevated anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) are linked to eye vascular occlusions in 9% of patients. This suggests ACA may play a role in some cases of these serious ocular conditions.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Immunology
- Vascular Medicine
Context:
- Anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) are associated with systemic occlusive vascular diseases.
- Ocular vascular occlusions represent a significant cause of vision loss.
Purpose:
- To investigate the prevalence and potential role of anticardiolipin antibodies (IgG and IgM) in patients experiencing acute vascular occlusions of the eye.
Summary:
- A prospective study measured IgG and IgM ACA levels in 140 patients with acute ocular vascular occlusions using ELISA.
- Patients with lupus erythematodes, HIV, or elevated antinuclear antibodies were excluded.
- Elevated IgG-ACA and IgM-ACA concentrations were detected in 9% of patients, irrespective of the specific type of ocular vascular occlusion (retinal artery/vein occlusion, anterior ischemic optic neuropathy).
Impact:
- These findings suggest that the anticardiolipin syndrome, characterized by elevated ACA levels, may be a contributing factor in a subset of patients with occlusive eye diseases.
- The majority of patients presented with normal ACA concentrations, indicating other etiologies are more common.
Abstract:
Elevated levels of anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) have recently been found to be associated with occlusive diseases such as myocardial or cerebral infarction or venous thrombosis. In a prospective study anticardiolipin antibodies (both IgG and IgM) were measured by ELISA in 140 patients with acute vascular occlusions of the eye. Patients with clinical evidence for lupus erythematodes, HIV infection or elevated concentrations of antinuclear antibodies (IIFT with HEp-2 as antigen, LD Diagnostika, Heiden, FRG) were excluded. Elevated concentrations of IgG-ACA and IgM-ACA were found in 9% of the cases, with no correlation with the type of ocular vascular occlusion (retinal artery occlusion, retinal vein occlusion, anterior ischemic optic neuropathy). These results indicate that the anticardiolipin syndrome with elevated concentration of anticardiolipin antibodies may also have a causal role in some patients with occlusive eye diseases, whereas in most patients the concentrations were within normal ranges.